


Monsters Aren't Always Hiding Under the Bed

by phantomzone08



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Adorable Connor, Androids and emotions, Androids won, Angry Androids, Angst with a Happy Ending, Deviants (Detroit: Become Human), Deviants turn the tables, Gavin Reed learns a lot, Gavin Reed on pain killers, Grief/Mourning, Halloween Challenge, Horror, Human Trafficking, Hurt Gavin Reed, Hurt/Comfort, Markus still manages to be awesome, North won the revolution, Post-Battle for Detroit (Detroit: Become Human), RK900 might not be what you expect, Revenge, So many Androids, Some Graphic Violence, Some humans die, Sometimes angsty friendship, Sort Of, Survival Horror, Whump, With A Twist, fluffy friendship, gavin whump, no beta we die like men, so there is that, sometimes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-20
Updated: 2018-11-29
Packaged: 2019-07-29 19:22:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 37,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16270724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phantomzone08/pseuds/phantomzone08
Summary: Detroit might as well be a new world after the revolution.  The android group won against the forces of humanity.History is written by the victors and so are the rules.  Now,  humanity is about to get a vivid taste of its own medicine.There is a serial number on his arm now, like he's a piece of hardware. Gavin finds that hard to wrap his mind around.He learns a lot about androids after being hunted, locked in a cage, and sold to someone he's never met.  Add in his broken state,  his vulnerability,  and he really understands what being at the mercy of another race is like. He's never been so terrified in all his life,  and it's not just the thought of death that frightens him,  it's what might come before his last breath.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I was asked to do a horror, scary, kind of gory fic for Halloween, so here I am! I've never written for DBH before but I'm horribly, horribly attached to every since android in that game, I swear!  
> So, here I go, torturing characters! Because that's what I do!
> 
> Be warned, this is intended to be a horror, bad game outcome situation. There is death, mildly... ish, like sort of mild gory stuff. I think it's mild enough for a horror fic but what do I know? I try not to make it too bad but bad enough for a good Halloween story about androids taking over.

They were dead, so very dead. Nothing in the world would be able to change that. They were without question doomed. It was all he could think about, the only thought hammering so, so painfully home in his head. They could run but he knew they had already lost, deep in the gnawing pit of his stomach, he just knew.

"Run! Run! Gavin!" Tina Chen, his friend, his partner in this apocalyptic mess urged him, high pitched and frantic.

Her brown eyes peeking out from under the dark gray DPD hoodie were wide and wild, more afraid than he had ever seen her. He snatched up her hand without really thinking and followed her order, feet pounding hard against the dirty pavement. They had to try, he thought, they really did. His own DPD hoodie kept him from the fatal temptation of looking back over his shoulder as they raced for something to put between them and their monster. They toppled debris and anything they could catch hold of as they passed by, throwing it back to gain them even a second extra. His heart was already racing, slamming like an anvil against his ribs as adrenaline pulsed a hard tempo through his veins. Fight or flight, it was for situations just like this. It wouldn't be enough. It would never be enough, the realistic, pessimistic half of Gavin understood that. It would not stop him from trying all the same.

The fear swam crazily in his head as they ducked into a familiar building, one they had used in similar cases. It was an old office building that served as a virtual labyrinth inside with a million entrance and exist stairwells that made escapes a relatively easy task. It was simple to mix up their path, double-back, use every evasive trick in their collective arsenal. As officers in the DPD they understood the chase, they had chased enough people running from the law to have a firm grip on the topic. Knowing how to chase was not so different from knowing how to run.

Gavin knew how to run, how to hide, learned young and never really lost the habit. He had no idea where Tina learned her street smarts, they never asked each other about the past, not like that. Good friends they may be, but they both lived in the here and now and buried the past like they had dead bodies in the backyard.

They clattered up a set of stairs, scrambling and clamoring at the wall for purchase to move them that much faster. It might have been smart to let go of each other but they held on, pulling and pushing each other; it reminded Gavin of the way he always used to hold onto his Cocker spaniel's collar as he ran them both away from a swinging belt and angry, drunken shouting.

"We could split up," Gavin panted, "try to confuse him."

"Yeah." Tina huffed.

They didn't let go of each other. Couldn't or wouldn't. Unwilling to be alone or maybe unwilling to likely never see the other again. If they split up one of them would be captured today and they both knew it. Maybe it was better than both of them. They still didn't let go of the death grip they had on each other.

Once they burst onto the fourth floor they beat a speedy change onto another stairwell. Halfway to the fifth floor, they heard the door on the third slam open hard enough it probably cracked the wall. They did not bother sticking to those stairs when they heard how fast those steps below were gaining, though they dared not look back. They raced out the next door they came to without any grace and all desperate trek to the next nearest stairwell. When they got two the next floor the door only just below them flew open. Gavin looked back just in time to see their pursuer take a fantastic leap and catch hold of the railing beside them. Tina shrieked as they all but threw each other out the door; the door not even fully closed before they heard him coming. He would have had them that very second had Tina not thrown the lock. He was predicting them, or worse, tracking them somehow. The metal of the lock shrieked as it was slammed into, probably nearly ripping it from the wall. One more hit would have it severed.

They threw themselves into another set of stairs, not pausing for a second, not even to breathe, knowing he would not be held in long. This time they went down one flight before racing to the farthest stairwell at the end. On this one, they took more care to keep quiet even though they did not slow down, hoping they threw him off. It didn't work, he was right behind them a lot sooner than expected even though they were taking the stairs two and three at a time. When a hand nearly caught his foot on the seventh floor he was fairly sure he screamed as Tina jerked him out the last door. It had jumped again and was climbing up over the side like a monster summoned from hell. On the roof now, there was another access point for a stairwell but it would not save them and they knew it. They had been unable to confuse it or giving it even a moments slip. It was the end of the line and they knew it without saying so.

A look passed between them as that monster crashed out the door and that was all it took for both of them to know exactly what to do. Being caught was out of the question. They probably always knew it would end this way at some point and never admitted it. They ran for the side. 

* * *

 

Blue, blue skies with big fluffy clouds were all you saw if you could look up. Huge, fat snowflakes drifted lazily from the sky, in no hurry to touch the ground. Fortunately, it was only thirty-two degrees, only just freezing and not any lower. If it had been any lower there would surely have been a significant number of casualties to the weathers harsh, unfeeling ministration.  

A few weeks before, the ground had been a mess of blue and red but as most of the Thirium evaporated, most of the cement was just a sickly dark brown of dry blood. Patches of snow still held some of both colors with more vividness unless the white snow had been turned gray with dirt.  

The tarps and tents slung over the enclosures did almost nothing to keep them warm besides keep the snow from collecting over the top of their bodies. It was not nearly enough to do them any great good. As it was, many in the crowds of huddled masses were exhibiting signs of encroaching illness. They each had a shock blanket to wrap up in or other types of blankets scavenged from empty houses, ambulances, police cars, or anywhere else. Even so, it was not exactly sufficient. More and more, he was starting to think they were doing it intentionally, letting them succumb to the weather in order to easily weed out the weaker humans from the stronger ones that could handle it better. 

Gavin Reed was huddled in his own blanket, pacing the bars of their cage like an animal in a zoo. His typical five-o'clock shadow was closer to a beard after some time without a shave. His dark hair was greasy but he kept it stubbornly combed back with his fingers. He thought the symptoms of being in nicotine withdrawal was mostly covered by the cold, hunger, and all the other unpleasant feelings everyone trapped in the rows and rows of cages was experiencing.  

He had not been in this cage as long as some of the humans had. Ones like he and Tina, Cops, anyone particularly smart and streetwise had been able to avoid capture for a while. It took the deviants time to catch some of them and drag them in. Contrary to popular belief, Gavin was smart and he was also pretty crafty when he needed to be; the perks of growing up in a house where you had to sneak down at night and avoid the squeaky floorboards in the hall if you actually wanted to be allowed to eat and not be beaten for one reason or another. Put him alongside Tina and they managed to stay out of the cages several days more than most. 

They would probably have lasted a lot longer too, maybe until some kind of help arrived if it had not been for that one android. He and Tina heard about what was going down, listening, even if they were stuck in some dumpster to wait till some group passed.

The androids liked to talk, a lot! Maybe because they had not been allowed to for so long, who knew. But they talked. It was how he and Tina knew exactly why they absolutely could not get caught. It was how they found out, among other things, that Connor was nearly systematically going through and catching everyone he could get hold of from the DPD. Hank was his first catch, not that catching him was probably all that hard, but he snagged up Chris, Wilson, Ben, Fowler, and even someone from the sniper unit. Connor took them all in, “adopting” them, as the plastics said. It was a point of scorn to some and amusement to others. An android named Simon was apparently also known to adopt any human that struck him as pitiful. Someone named Josh took in anyone he found, if he could, for some reason, college students in particular.   

Unfortunately, it was the reason they did not run for the hills as fast as they should have. Tina spotted Connor and for just a second, they both thought they were not in any danger, why they assumed at least he wouldn't come after them. When it turned to really look at them, they both knew. It looked just like Connor but it also looked nothing at all like him. 

Where Connor was used for hunting deviants, this thing was clearly used, or chose, to hunt down humans. Gavin could dodge a housekeeper unit; they might be faster and stronger, but he was trained! He knew what to do. Against Connor, he was outclassed by a mile, and against the monster with his face and wrong blue eyes, it was so much worse. They ran like the devil was on their heels, and really, he had been. Maybe if they had split up at least one of them could have made it but they did not want to run the risk of never seeing each other again, so they ran together. They knew the area, knew what worked to dodge all the other phcking plastics, but that one was more than inhuman.

"Phcking androids," Gavin muttered. 

The guard passing gave him a sharp,  reproachful look,  but did not stop on its mission.  It was surprising.  He'd gotten smacked twice before when he antagonize them,  though nothing serous yet.  They always mentioned they didn't want to damage their merchandise too badly unless they could not sell him.  They were of the opinion that he would indeed sell and he hoped they were lying. 

He waved at another android before making faces at it just because he could,  knowing it annoyed them. Several of the guards were PC200's or PM700's and he wouldn't even be shocked if some of them had worked at his own precinct.  Some of them might know and hate him. Why did he do this? Why risk his life to be petty? Phck if he really knew the answer!

He never realized how dangerous Connor could have been until he was up against the creature with glowing RK900 on its shoulder. It took him all of five minutes to catch them if that; he snatched them both midair as they tried to jump off a roof just to get away from him. He slung one of them over each shoulder like it was effortless and nothing either of them did so much as made him flinch. It was like being held down by a metal beam that pressed harder and harder if they struggled too much. Gavin had a cracked rib just from being carried to the lovely van the deviants repurposed from the prison transport. 

He glanced across the aisle at the cage on the other side of their street. He could see the blond woman still sobbing even if the volume had finally ceased to exist. She'd been crying all day and through the night after her husband, a big, strong man had been taken along with twenty other men of his size and build. She had begged to go with him, vowed to be a good worker, promised she could keep up with whatever they wanted her to do. The androids did not even bother to tell her no, they just shut the cage. Her husband was shouting back promises to assure her, swearing they would find each other one day. Everyone, probably even the husband himself, knew it was a lie, but Gavin guessed that was what you did when you loved someone, you lied. She offered to die alongside him, because being taken was almost sure death, and he pretended they would be reunited; he wondered if they were soulmates, childhood sweethearts, maybe newlyweds. Bet they never expected to be parted like that.

“Gavin, just sit down.” Tina sounded tired, resigned, and worst of all, hopeless. 

He glanced back at her, surprised every single time by the look of her. The dark shadows under her eyes, the way she stopped bothering to tie her hair back in the bun she absolutely always wore, the slump of her shoulders that spoke volumes about giving up. She had not bothered to drink the efficient, tasteless protein shake their captors kindly gave them three times a day, and now it was frozen in the plastic cup beside her. It was telling about the other people huddled around her that none of them bothered to drink what she had not, that no one stole it when she did not want it. They did not care anymore, or not enough. Looking at them, he could see that not one of them expected to live, but most of them wanted to die sooner rather than later. Tina, he realized with a jolt of horror, was one of the later.   

“Why,” Gavin snapped, glaring with all he had because he didn’t have any other way to respond, didn’t know what to do besides gnash his teeth and spit venom, “because the ground is so comfortable?” Anger and sharp words had always been his best, most effective shield against everything he could not deal with. Sarcasm was his greatest alliance in the English language.

Humans did not stand a chance against this new enemy, they all knew it. Deviants were taking over the world and they knew that too. Russia might not be saying so but they were sinking, everyone was sinking with the mindless pillars of their existence suddenly not only letting them fall but pushing them over. It was I-Robot at its worst; the thing conspiracy theorists predicted all along, what everyone forgot to be afraid of until it was too late. They deserved it, and secretly, they all knew that too. 

“Because they will probably make you sit down soon if you don’t cut it out.” Tina’s voice didn’t even hold bite, it was monotone, factual like she was trying to shut off her emotions the way androids used to be. 

“Let them phcking try!” Vibrato had always been his default response to everything, false as it always was, it was his greatest defense besides sarcasm.  

Tine looked up then, locking eyes with him, a tiny hint of her usual fire flickering back behind them, “They’ll probably take that as a challenge. Sit the hell down and be my heater! It’s cold!” 

“Phcking fine, whatever!” Gavin threw himself down beside her dramatically, wedging himself against one of the cage sides to help block the wind, pretending it worked even slightly while she curled into him to rest her head on his shoulder. 

“I miss having my phone as entertainment,” Tina mumbled to him and he laughed even though he did not really feel humor. They ditched their phones so they could not be tracked, not that it did them much good. They still ended up in a cage. 

The androids rounded up all the humans into the same little camps the army had been dismantling them in as a sort of irony or payback sort of play. Symbolism, no doubt. Not that Gavin exactly cared about the reasons. Good old Agent Perkins really did it when he took down that ship! He and his mercenaries really signed the death warrants on all humans after they sank Jericho and killed the leader, Markus. Gavin knew from Chris that Markus was all for peace, all about not shedding blood or paying back a crime for a crime. Killing him off? Or rather, sinking the revolutionary with his ship, was probably the singularly worst call ever made in history. 

The deviant that took his place was a ball of rage and revenge, and to a point, Gavin would privately admit that she probably had enough reason to be. Rumor was, Markus had been her lover, so if you pile that on top of killing off a ton of her android pals, and you had a recipe for a lot of anger. He really hoped that North, or any of her people, had Perkins locked up somewhere special for this. He never liked the guy to start with, but considering this entire setup was his fault, and he hoped the man had it worst of all. A lot of the army was locked up if they weren’t dead so it was perfectly possible. He hoped the man lived to see what he’d done, hoped he felt phking guilty. 

"You suck at those dumb games anyway, Tina." Gavin snarked. "I always put you to shame."

"That's only because I do work while I'm on duty and you just pretend to work while you're actually on your phone. I'd have beaten your scores if I screwed around all day too."

"Phck you too!" He laughed again and tried not to let it sound as forced as it was. 

He wondered if Connor felt a little guilty considering the tide of the war had been altered when he marched hundreds of thousands of androids through the streets. Then again, he probably did not feel guilty for saving his own people. Why should he, honestly? That was war. Humans would have killed all those deviants if Connor had not come through. Nobody felt guilty for winning a war. 

A sudden tension fell over the entire camp. A deadly silence like what happened before really bad storms,  or if a dangerous predator was out prowling in the woods.  Everyone and everything stopped, a collective holding their breaths to wait. 

Gavin felt the tension in his body skyrocket when measured,  perfect steps crunched in the snow,  coming closer,  and closer.  No one made a sound,  no one so much as twitched,  they just waited. 

He froze entirely when he saw a familiar face peer in through the bars.  Those ice cold eyes swept over every human in the cage and he knew they were being scanned. 

RK900 waved at the nearest guard, "Open this one,  please."

Every human in the cage shrank in on themselves,  huddling closer together,  trying to be as small as possible.  Tina dug her fingers into his arm so hard he would swear her nails were going to rip his jacket. 

The door swung out and the hunter stepped inside,  arms folded behind him like an agent in the army, "Kelvin Benson,  if you would be so kind as to step forward?" When no one moved,  the android arched a single derisive brow, "Or,  if you prefer, I can also drag you out with no trouble."

Kelvin seemed to decide he'd take his chances staying where he was so when the RK unit took another step,  the humans parted like the Red Sea for Moses. Kelvin put up a fight but the hunter didn't have any difficulty hauling him out anyway.  

The monster was missing it's white and black jacket and Gavin noticed it swaying in the wind,  slung over a chair near the first guard station.  One guess as to why it took off a mostly white jacket. 

The android paused,  glancing down at Gavin,  nudging his foot, "Hello,  detective Reed." The smile it offered was malicious and chilled his blood, "Sorry I don't have time to stop and have you bring me coffee.  Maybe next time?"

Gavin's jaw dropped and it sneered before moving on,  dragging its prey into the street as the cage door swung shut. 

Had Connor told the thing about him? Or was it that memory transfer thing? He knew the RK800's shared memories after Connor died that one time,  but he didn't know the memories went to the 900's too. Had it known who he was when it caught him?

"It has been brought to our attention," RK900 address Kelvin but let his voice carry over the camp, "that you were a leading member in an anti-android group that practiced brutality and murder of androids."

Kelvin started struggling with a lot of desperation at those words.  The rest of the camp tensed while the guards moved a little closer to watch judgment be passed down.  

"For your crimes, it has been decided that you should be summarily executed." With no further preamble,  the hunter took Kelvin's head between his palms.  Slowly,  ignoring the frantic way the man fought,  the android began to push his palms together. 

Tina looked away but Gavin couldn't rip his eyes from the scene.  He couldn't stop watching the man's eyes bulge,  his face turning red and then purple.  The pressure the skull was being put under made it crackle like a campfire,  muffled by the inhuman screams the man was making,  until there was a wet,  squelching snap as the palms came together,  blood,  brain matter,  and shards of bone flying in several directions. 

The android dropped the body like a piece of trash,  shaking his hands to clear of some of the residues before he carefully plucked a cloth napkin from his back pocket to wipe off his face, then his hands. 

He looked at Gavin again,  specks and smears of blood still on his face, "In place of coffee,  why don't I have you drag this body to the burn pile, Detective?"

Gavin stood instantly,  ignoring the way Tina pawed at him to keep him down,  his eyes locked on the android, "Sure, why not?" He shrugged one shoulder as if none of it had bothered him at all, clinging to the shreds of his old machismo. He wouldn't back down now. 

Mostly though,  he didn't want Tina to have such a close-up view of the next execution,  his own.  It wasn't like he could refuse to follow the order and if he obeyed it might even be quicker.  Either way,  Tina shouldn't see it.  He set aside the fear,  willing himself to take it like a man. 

They let him out and he dutifully grabbed the body by the jacket and began to drag it.  He pretended not to notice the trail of red behind them or how the RK unit walked so close beside him,  almost breathing down his neck.  Gavin Reed was not intimidated,  he mentally reminded himself.  He.  Was.  Not.  Afraid. 

The walk was a silent one,  no useless attempts at conversation. When he kicked the body into the pit,  he tried desperately not to wrinkle his nose at the stench of charred flesh.  The flames had probably been burning a long time,  maybe since the revolution.  He could see the tactile gear in there,  melted but recognizable.  The humans that died the night the battle began fed this fire pit but they were not the last. 

The wind slapped the smoke into his face and he could not force his lungs to avoid spasming with a cough.  He tried to turn away but found himself blocked by that tall,  plastic body. A sick feeling oozed through his body at the thought of joining the bodies and the fire. 

"You know, I don't believe we've been properly introduced," offered cordially,  as if they weren't standing beside a few hundred burning bodies, "My name is Conan.  You have met my older brother,  Connor,  if memory serves me."

"It serves you." Gavin replied without thinking, "... And since you've already been using my name,  doubt I need to offer it."

Conan chucked but it did not sound real or genuine. 

It was in Gavin's nature to be foolish,  upfront,  and get things out of the way, "You going to kill me too?"

Conan reached up,  taking the sides of Gavin's coat in his hands before he pressed,  leaning Gavin off balance,  holding him propped up over the fire,  feet clinging to the edge, "Should I?" 

When Conan tipped him a little farther,  Gavin's hands clutched at those strong arms even though he made an effort not to change his expression, "No. I never killed your people."

"Even though you suggested roughing up a suspect since they 'weren't human'?"

"Roughing up a suspect isn't the same as killing them. And I've suggested roughing humans up before too, so you know. I was mostly trying to get a response out of Connor anyway,  see what he'd do. " He tried to stay calm,  reasonable. 

Connor always reminded Gavin a little of his dad,  but this thing in front of him was even more like him.  It sent him into a lot of his old coping methods the way Connor hadn't been able to.  Connor triggered his anger,  his pent-up rage.  Conan triggered his fear,  tapped into the little boy that hid in tall trees or behind a couch, the kid that wanted to be brave and 'take it like a man'. 

He glanced at those perfect,  huge hands and pretended there wasn't still blood on them. 

"You threatened to set Connor on fire." No real inflection in his voice or emotion on his face. 

"I threaten a lot of things I never go through with. And I never said I was going to do it."

"You implied it." Conan offered, still pleasant,  polite, and calm. 

"Threats are how you get confessions.  It's a habit. But you know as well as I do about threats. You coulda just shot that phcker, but you made a show out of it so everyone would see.  Intimidation must come second nature to you too."

Gavin found himself suddenly back on solid footing, a strong arm draped over his shoulder companionably like they were friends going on a walk back to camp. "I suppose that's true." He agreed smoothly. 

There was blood on the black turtleneck and Gavin pretended he couldn't see the shine amidst the black,  pretended he couldn't feel the sticky moisture against the back of his neck and in his hair.  It took everything he had not to flinch,  or worse,  cower,  but he managed to stand tall.

The android pulled a cough drop out of his pocket and handed it to Gavin, "Why do you have cough drops in your pocket?" Gavin eyed him suspiciously,  wondering if it was poisoned. 

"I've heard positive reinforcement works well on humans. You've been well behaved so it's fitting to reward you." 

He decided not to dignify that with a response. As they walked,  he wrestled down his terror at having that arm so close to his head and other vital organs.  If it felt him shaking he hoped it would be chalked up to the cold. 

"Are you afraid of me?" Conan asked,  still conversational. 

"No." Gavin lied on instinct. 

Conan leaned close enough to whisper in his ear, "Your heart is beating so fast... I can hear it flutter every time I move just a little.  Your adrenal glands are secreting steadily the longer I'm close to you. Though you are controlling your breathing I can still tell how it picks up or stutters at my touch.  You are,  in fact,  terrified."

"And you're a sadist. What's your point?"

Conan laughed again,  this one sounding like honest amusement.  They said nothing more but the android winked at him before it left him in the cage. 

Tina latched onto him with all her strength and he wondered how he survived the encounter.  He'd been expecting to die the minute it told him to carry the body but he'd intended to die with his head held high,  at least so it would be easier on Tina.  But he survived,  for now.  It wouldn't last,  he knew that. 

"Did he hurt you?" Tina whispered. 

"Nah,  I'm fine.  He just didn't wanna move a body." The cough drop slid against his cheek,  sending the taste of citrus and menthol over his tongue.  He didn't even remember putting it in his mouth at all. 

Gavin tried to make his hands stop shaking but it wasn't entirely working. He would not survive the next time he left the cage, if he left it, he knew that. 

By now, Gavin had a good grip on the picture. He wasn’t as dense as people thought he was, or as thick. He got it, he did. He’d been watching these plastics. If nothing else was real about them, their hate was. Humans did that, grew it like a dark tree, tended it and watered it until it bloomed into poison flowers.

He really understood when he and Tina saw a couple of the "Traci" bots find someone one of them remembered. It was only their second night hiding out but it was one of the most memorable nights they had hiding in an abandoned building. You could not fake the kind of raw,  boiling,  poisonous hate present that night.  No program ever written would be able to produce the twisted, unhinged,  crazed looks on those android faces.  He'd seen looks like that before; in the eyes of a father shooting his daughter's molester;  in the face of a cop after beating the man that blew his partners brains out; once, in the shocked,  but manic smile of a woman holding the handle of a knife while the sharp end allowed a stream of arterial spray to gush from the throat of her abuser.

Tina never spoke about it and he never brought it up.  He was pretty sure she heard the screams of that man as he was  ** _peeled_**  apart over several hours time,  or the enraged hissing the bots spit, he knew he still dreamed about it. Worst of all, after listening to the "Traci's" talk,  he wasn't dead sure he was sorry for the guy. He hadn't come out of his hiding place to save him at least,  and neither had Tina. 

"Everything's fine." He told her with his usual smarmy chuckle, "Who's gonna ruin this face?"

"You already have a scar on your face." She returned the snark. 

"Which adds character to my stunning good looks."

"You wish." She clung to him again,  like she knew it wouldn't go so easily next time too. 

After being in a cage,  being watched,  and worse,  they were all starting to get the picture.  He had a feeling that was the point. 

After watching from the cage as a couple "Traci's" pulled Floyd Mill's cowering form out of a cage, exchanged whatever it was they used as currency with the jailer, guard androids and proceeded to light him on fire for everyone to see; everyone was hoping they treated their android at least well enough to avoid that ending.  It didn't boost confidence that North herself had been watching and did not lift a finger to stop the brutality.  She hadn't really looked amused like some had,  she looked blank,  but she allowed it.  After that, a lot of humans stopped eating,  stopped making an effort to survive.  If that was what awaited them down the line,  no one considered dying of the cold all that terrible. 

Every time an android purchased a human from the cage, even if it did not seem the android knew them,  everyone assumed that human was probably as good as dead.  Leaving the cage was death. 

He couldn't believe he lived long enough to be locked up again.  As far as he knew,  he was the first to ever come back.  Maybe it was because he hadn't been sentenced like Kelvin or purchased like the others.  As far as he knew,  all sales were final in more than one way. 

Gavin closed his eyes, leaning his head against the top of Tina's. 

* * *

He felt himself jerk from a near sleep,  eyes stinging and heavy when he heard screaming.  Mostly no one screamed or shouted anymore unless they were being purchased. He could never resist looking to see who was on the block,  just in case he knew them. The sudden movement in front of him made him jump like a shot.

A girl, dirty, tangled hair making her look feral slammed against the bars.  She was bloody, and bruised,  clothing tattered and feet battered for her lack of shoes.  It took him embarrassingly long to register that she was not running away from the cage, she was trying to get in with all the desperation of a woman possessed.  Only she wasn't a woman,  she couldn't have been over eighteen.  Her eyes were so wild,  so terrified,  even as she struggled with her bloody hands and feet in an attempt to climb over the bars and into the enclosure. 

It was a testament to the force of her fear when she caught hold of the top of the door in an impressive leap and pulled herself over. Gavin dove,  skidding on his knees to catch her before she could land gracelessly on the ground. 

Her whole body shook like a leaf, eyes unfocused, blown wide with adrenaline.  Some of the shaking had to be from the cold though since the poor kid only had on a tank top and jeans.  Without a second thought,  he ripped off his coat to wrap her in as he tugged her far back into the crowd. 

An android,  one of the old cleaning or service units he always saw everywhere in this tacky blue and yellow things slammed up against the bars,  rattling the cage door angrily. He still had a bloody knife in his hand,  of all phcking things.  No wonder she ran. 

"Give that back!" He snapped, rage seeping out of him lie goo. 

The minute the WM400 spoke the girl went crazy,  screaming for him to go away,  thrashing in Gavin's hold like she didn't know where she was anymore.  The gash on the side of her head made him think she might have a concussion. 

"Get lost, phcker, she doesn't wanna see you!" Gavin shouted,  forgetting everything rational in his head telling him not to make it worse. 

The android yelled something back that was more screaming than words.  But the shouting was getting attention.  First, a guard jogged over,  trying to calm the ranting man with the knife with little success.  At some point, he didn't even remember, Gavin had handed the girl to Tina and gotten close to the bars to shout right back with just as much volume. 

"Mind your own business,  human!" The knife slapped at the bars for emphasis. 

Gavin reached for his gun and badge instinctively, "DPD, and assault with a deadly-" he paused,  grasping only air where both items should have been,  and suddenly the magnitude of his handicap was back in the front of his mind. "Sir, put the knife down!" He tried to hang onto his authority, his position as a detective, and tried to believe it might still matter. 

"He's right,  you should put the knife down." The tall guard agreed, "Then we can talk."

"There is nothing to talk about!" The crazy thing sneered, "that girl belongs to me! Just look at her arm and you'll see! I bought her yesterday! Return my property!"

"What seems to be the problem here?" An ever so calm voice somehow cut across all of them as Josh seemingly materialized from thin air. 

Gavin could have kissed him.  If anyone would be on their side, it was the handsome, former teacher and revolutionary. "This nutcase half killed that girl and now he's trying to take her back to whatever hellhole he crawled out of to finish her off!"

"If she behaved, she'd be doing fine! There is no _law_ against me punishing what belongs to me." He sneered directly at Gavin.

Gavin aimed for Josh, "She can't be more than seventeen or eighteen, nowhere old enough to be able to handle something like this! She's just a kid, scared and alone! You can't send her back to him, it's not right! She's too young!"

"Humans are considered adults at eighteen," the crazy WM400 narrowed his eyes at Gavin.

"They can order stuff online, yeah, but they can't drink till they're twenty-one! The law knows they aren't prepared to be thrown into the deep end all at once." Gavin smacked his hand against the bars.

The knife happy android smacked back, "Seventeen is your age of consent."

Gavin curled his lips back, "Yeah, that's where lots of people get their facts wrong. Seventeen is when it's legal for them to go off with someone their own age, not some phcking older psycho. We humans have a word for guys like you! Pervert! Pedophile!"

"Alright, that's enough!" Josh steps a little closer, hands up to ward off any more talk.

The angry 'bot isn't ready to be talked down, "YK500's were sold without any trouble."

It took Gavin a second to remember those were the kid's version, which he always thought was a horrible idea. "Oh, right, Cyberlife's rules are what you're going with? Guess you guys didn't just fight a whole war against everything they stood for, all their rules, and ideas. Guess you're not so against Cyberlife after all!" He pushed up against the bars, getting as close as he could, "Maybe you're just like your creators! Not as noble as you say you are, just a bunch of phcking hypocrites!"

The guard shoved Gavin in the chest, making him stumble back and nearly fall, "Enough!"

"This is not going to solve the problem at hand," Josh insisted, "Though I am inclined to agree that selling teenagers without a proper sort of checks and balance system is ill-advised as they are too young and impulsive to properly understand the backlash to their choices the way adults can."

"See," Gavin crowed, "your leader agrees with me!"

"He's not our leader!" The WM400 nearly screamed,  making all of them jump. 

Josh flinched and Gavin wondered how much it stung him.  He had a hunch an image of the RK200 might have flashed in his minds eye.  Maybe that was who the WM400 had thought of too,  or maybe it had been North,  he couldn't tell. 

"He's better than you." Gavin let the malice take over,  peeling his lips into an ugly smirk,  "He at least has some sway,  one of the head figures around here, unlike you.  Bet you didn't do squat for your people."

"How dare you,  you- you filthy-" it sputtered,  so angry it lost control of its tongue. 

"Come on," Gavin purred, "can't take the truth? Can't handle someone besides a little girl? Why don't you come in here at let me teach you a lesson,  help your phcking manners!"

"Gavin!" Tina hissed in his ear,  yanking him back before the android could stab him.  She'd passed the girl off and had a death grip on his arm,  probably trying to leave bruises just so he might notice. She wasn't wrong,  he was aiming to get himself killed.  Even worse,  they were drawing a crowd of android spectators.  He was going to get all of them killed. 

Gavin clicked his mouth shut and crossed his arms,  trying to seem petulant rather than nervous.  He never thought things through before he shot off his mouth. 

"What's the problem here?" A world weary,  though irritated female voice cut over the top of anything the other androids had been about to say. 

"North." Josh greeted with equal parts relief and wariness. 

Every eye snapped to the beautiful revolutionary leader.  She stood,  feet planted in the snow,  arms crossed tight over her chest,  hard set to her delicate jaw,  looking ready for a fight as always.  She was back in the clothes she had worn during the battle even though Gavin had seen her in other things since then. 

The WM400 looked instantly vindicated upon seeing her, "North!"

She arched a single,  unimpressed brow at him when she turned her eyes away from Josh, "Planning on explaining what all the shouting is about?"

The WM400 soured, using the knife like a pointer to jab at Gavin though the bars, "This human stole my property and then insulted me!"

North cocked her head to one side,  shifting her searching eyes onto Gavin,  hitting him with the full intensity of her gaze.  She looked,  accessing, weighing him by her standards and he doubted she found anything redeeming as he knew there wasn't much to be had.  His mouth went dry as she just starred,  not seeming to pass judgement,  just examining him.  He wondered if he might not wish Conan had killed him soon,  if it might have been a mercy to have been thrown to a fire instead. 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's funny, I hated Gavin so much, and then somehow, some way, I almost like him. Going through the game more than once gave me a better look at Gavin than I had the first time, maybe. This story isn't pro Gavin and it's not anti Gavin so whichever you are, you're probably fine. It's mostly from his pov but it will shift to a few others as well.  
> Truthfully, this story isn't pro or anti any character, they all have flaws and strengths and I love each one! (With the exception of Amanda, great actress, but I hate Amanda, hate her)  
> Oh, and there are hints at Gavin having a hard childhood in this fic but I'm not ever going to go into depth on it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gavin gets injured, you're warned

Being stared at by a bunch of androids was frightening,  unnerving! Gavin couldn't help the step back he took or the way his heartbeat picked up that much more. 

They would know he was afraid but they probably already knew.  They could scan humans,  or at least some of them,  particularly the police androids could.  He couldn't hide much of anything from them.  He probably couldn't even hide that he was in withdrawal and craved nicotine.  It wasn't fair how like he could hide from them. 

"You stole something?" North asked,  calm and cool. 

"No, I  didn't!" Gavin snapped. 

"But you did insult this man?" North didn't seem like she doubted that in the slightest. 

No reason not to give it to her straight, "I just told the truth,  is all.  If the shoe phcking fits! Not my fault he got bitc-"

"They were both equally antagonistic with each other." Josh offered with a tired shrug. 

"A human has no right to speak at all! Let alone insult me! Those filthy meat sacks!" The WM400 growled, "They always think they can do whatever they like! Put us in cages,  take us apart,  round us up!" Oh,  this guy had been in the camps,  Gavin thought, so no wonder he was a mess of rage,  unhinged. 

Didn't mean Gavin had to feel bad for him after he went after a kid, "Weird,  you sound like you're describing yourself too. Except for the meat sack thing."

Tina pinched his arm hard,  and without his coat as a block,  he felt it really well.  Gavin drew a sharp breath through grit teeth,  subtly twisting away from her grip and rubbing at the abused skin with his other hand. 

North shifted her stance to more fully face the cage, a sardonic half smile,  something challenging in her look, "You seem very opinionated.  Care to tell me why you started this fight?"

"I didn't start it, but I'll finish it." Gavin raised his chin and squared his shoulders, "The phcker half killed a kid! I'm supposed to be polite after he nearly kills a defenseless little girl?"

North flicked her eyes over to the WM400 in askance. 

"She is mine to do with as I please! I own her! He has no right to tell me what to do with her or try to keep her away from me!" It was less of a snarl since it was talking to North but there was still heat. 

North cocked a hip and looked to Josh, "What girl are they talking about?"

A nearby PC700 stepped up,  arms folded behind her at attention, "There was a girl,  ran across the yard,  jumped inside this cage. I saw her do it.  Detective Reed caught her and pulled her back in with the other humans."

Gavin tensed,  his hands shaking when he looked at the pretty,  dark-skinned android,  and he did recognize her from the station.  Clearly,  she remembered him too.  He'd never given her a specific reason to hate him,  and she didn't sound hostile,  but she'd also just rated him out. 

North looked right at Gavin again, "Detective,  huh?" Then she looked past him at the humans, "show me the girl."

There was a low murmur and at first,  no one moved,  but then some of them broke away.  Some of them stayed,  not leaving the girl alone in the spotlight,  but most of them parted like cockroaches in the light.  "Cowards," Gavin growled deep in the back of his throat. So much for human decency. 

The girl wasn't standing,  probably couldn't after that run and the climb into the cage.  Adrenalin only lasted so long before the body gave out.  She was shaking,  huddled up in Gavin's coat, looking lost and small.  She slunk close to the people that hadn't abandoned her. 

"There she is!" The WM400 yelled, "I bought her yesterday! You can check the records and look at her arm as proof!" He stuck his arm through the bars and slashed the knife at Gavin,  which he dodged. 

"Hey!" North was fast,  strong, a good fighter,  and she did what none of the others had; she snatched the knife away,  sticking it safely in her boot. "Knock it off!" She warned with a glare that made the 'bot wither in what might have been shame. 

The revolutionary leader turned her full attention to the girl,  drilling into her human form with those deep,  searching eyes.  There is a slight wrinkle in her brow the longer she looks at the girl. 

"She's young," Josh pointed out as he moved in beside her, "too young. She would be starting college next year."

"College,  huh?" North didn't turn her eyes from the girl. 

"Humans aren't ready to handle..." he paused,  searching for words, "volatile situations on their own at this age.  Some of them can adapt,  even thrive under adverse conditions... but most can't."

"Is anyone ever really ready for the harshness of life,  Josh? For its cruelty? Most androids were sold into horrible places when they were days old."

"Humans aren't like us. A newborn can't survive without intensive care from parents.  We were created,  born adults.  We were never completely new to the world.  We may not have seen it for ourselves,  but we have the knowledge they don't have when they are too young." Josh says, "That's why they have schools. Because the young ones don't know things they need to. We can't judge the young ones the way we do the adults. They can be taught, their minds are still developing."

"What's your name,  girl?" North directs into the cage. 

Green eyes bounce between all the androids,  including the one that tried to kill her before she fluffed the coat father around her face like a turtle, "Morgana..." she paused, "my mom had a thing for old literature and King Arthur."

Josh grinned suddenly as if instantly charmed by that little addition to the story.  Gavin thinks the girl is just very used to having to explain her name to people.  It's strange,  but she looks like a Morgana. 

No one spoke at all for a while so Gavin couldn't help himself, "You can't give her back! He'll just kill her! That's murder! Not like defending yourselves,  not like winning a war against soldiers,  not even like revenge!" He stepped up to the bars again,  right in the female revolutionary's face, "It's just senseless phcking murder.  There's no justice to that!"

"Justice!" WM400 laughed, "when did humans care about justice for us? When did anyone show us mercy?"

Gavin was never good at speeches,  never good at being sensitive and thoughtful about the feelings of others,  but he was going to try, "I never said you don't have a reason to hate humans. You do! But it's the grown-ups that did all this,  we both know that.  The kids don't get to decide what goes and what doesn't. Adults make the rules so punish adults. That's justice; hurting some poor kid isn't."

Something in North's face shutters, softens, and breaks all at the same time. He hoped that would get to her. 

Gavin had never seen her up close before,  but he's seen her. He's going to take a gamble on the one time he thought she might be more than he first thought when he saw her flashed across the news as the harbinger of humanity's doom. 

He had only really seen North intervening in one purchase.  Simon and Josh seemed to try to oversee all purchases of humans like a couple nervous pacifists that somehow made it through a war as if they cared about what happened to the humans.  But they were only two androids. 

That one time,  North took a stand though.  Maybe it was the screams that brought her over.  All the humans in any near proximity had been shouting,  but none so loud as the petite brunette.  The guards had actually been struggling to hold the woman back, even androids outmatched by that kind of tenacity. 

North trotted over,  long hair swinging in that signature braid, "What is going on?" She demanded sharply. 

That tiny brunette kept struggling,  reaching for the little baby in a pretty android's arms, "Don't take my baby! Don't take my baby! Please,  I'll do anything you want! Please!"

North looked at the woman,  something like alarm crossing her features, "What is going on?" She repeated the question in a far more confused tone. 

The female holding the screaming baby rocked it back and forth calmly before shrugging, "I want the baby. I know how to care for them, I have all the protocols. It's perfectly safe with me."

"Protocols!" The mother shrieked, "Can protocols tell you her favorite food; the song she falls asleep to every night;  that her favorite color is teal; what her allergies are; that she's afraid of frogs?!"

The baby kept screaming,  reaching,  struggling to get back to her mother but the android was very skilled at holding a child in place. "I could figure those things out eventually.  She will get used to me in a few weeks."

North starred at the terrified baby with wide eyes for long minutes. The blonde android,  Simon,  jogged up to join the fray,  looking even more distressed then North when he looked at the mother and child being held apart. 

"No." Simon shook his head, "The amount of stress on the baby will be too high... to just rip her away from everyone she knows?"

"She's young." The female android insisted, a frown wrinkling her perfect brow, "She will adjust quickly.  I've always wanted... maybe even before I knew I wanted it,  I've always wanted a child."

The mother began a desperate alternation between begging and logical arguments that were more hysterical than logical,  but sound all the same.  Simon was against stressing the baby.  Gavin had no idea what the female android's model was,  but that thing was persistent. 

North scrubbed at her forehead and closed her eyes. "Alright,  that's enough." She declared,  and everyone knew the final call was about to be passed, "Want that baby? Really want it?"

"Of course I do!" The female answered instantly. 

"Please,  I'm begging you-" The mother began to openly weep. 

"Stop talking!" North snapped,  and Gavin had been sure it was over for that mother. 

It was a shock when North continued with; "From now on... if anyone wants to buy a child,  if it had parents or siblings,  whatever,  you buy the lot.  We... aren't going to split kids from their... usual familiar faces." She turned back to the android, "Still want the baby?"

The android looked at the baby,  then the mother,  and back and forth for quite a while,  but finally nodded, "Alright, I suppose... that's... fine.  But she has to agree to follow my orders to the letter! No trying to run away or poison my new baby against me! And when it's older,  I'm the one it will address as mother,  not her! She's the nanny now,  not me!"

The mother's knees gave out and she just sagged in the hold of the guards, the emotions in her voice a mixture of relief and grief all tangled up, "I promise," she vowed like she was willingly signing her life away,  which she was. 

When they were walking away he heard the female say; "Your new name is Susan and hers is Amelia.  Confirm."

There was a strange,  mechanical,  unfeeling tone to the mother's response even though he could tell by the way she stiffened that it cost her at least her pride and probably much more when she said, "My name is Susan and her name is Amelia."

After that,  adopting the children had to be approved through Simon or North herself,  no one was allowed to walk off with little kids.  He'd seen teenagers dragged off though,  and North showed no indication she noticed it was no better than the ones that looked small.

It was obvious the rules were always changing, they didn't have a set system on who could do what. There were several times he'd seen North refuse an offer for the children,  and she'd moved the ones with kids in closer to her,  inside,  with better shelter.  He wondered if she'd even considered the kids before that time,  but he doubted it.  Kids were a rule changer,  even for androids.  He was glad for that. 

At least, if someone should survive,  it should be little kids. Kids shouldn't pay for the sins the adults committed. People were property, the slaves now.  The shoe was on the other foot.  They would get a taste of what they had done,  really done.  The deviants they hurt; because they had hurt them; were getting revenge. 

He knew he was no innocent party there,  as Conan kindly pointed out. He lashed out constantly,  intimidated by androids and how they outclassed him in every way. They made him feel inferior, endangered,  outdated.   They reminded him of everything his younger self used to believe his parents were; perfect,  all seeing,  all knowing,  all powerful,  dangerous,  uncaring,  unstoppable.   They made him feel helpless again,  and he hated them for it.

He used to believe he was protecting himself by trying to intimidate them,  by keeping them in their place so they could never do to him what his parents had.  In his defense,  he'd been right all along,  they were too dangerous. But maybe,  if he'd ever really tried,  if he'd been nice to a few of them,  he might not be in a cage.  Maybe Connor would have taken him in.  Not that it matters now.

It was too late for a lot of people now. 

Gavin wasn't stupid,  he really wasn't; even if he let people think he was sometimes; he understood people.  Or more particularly,  he understood the darkest part of people,  the ugly part everyone tried to hide,  but came out when they were high on Red Ice.  He understood the dark,  poisonous end of emotions,  and maybe he was darker for that himself,  poisoned and tainted.  But he understood it and he understood hatred, recognized it when he looked at it. 

North wasn't completely dark.  There was something else besides hate. 

"Please," he keeps his eyes locked on North,  willing her to hear him out,  for that girl, "let her go.  Don't give her back to him."

He needed her to change the rules again. 

North pursed her lips, "What do you think,  Josh? You want to take this one?" When Josh nods,  she turns to the WM400, "I'm sorry,  but I'm going to ask you to exchange her for an older human. I should have put this rule in sooner,  but... we won't be selling humans under... twenty without an application process anymore."

Gavin stared,  and so did all the other humans.  He was floored.  Floored.  Thankful,  but amazed. He couldn't believe that worked! He could have laughed right out but that would have been bad timing. 

Josh asked the guard to open the door before stepping inside,  approaching the girl like a human would a fawn injured in the forest.  There was something gentle about him,  something that made it easy to trust him.  The girl let him take her hand and help her up. 

The WM400 sputtered, "You're giving in? You're going to let the humans make the rules? You're just going to take their word over one of your own?"

 "She's not the right target for your frustration," North stated calmly. 

"All humans are the same!" The android hissed. 

North flinched, like hearing the words hurt, "Maybe.  It's... There have to be lines we don't cross or...we really are no better than what we fought against. Maybe... an eye for an eye... makes the world go blind.  Maybe..." she paused,  turning her back on the angry android, "maybe we should take a step back and think."

She sounded like she was partially trying to quote someone.  Gavin wondered if he was witnessing an android existential crisis. "When punishing monsters... maybe we have to be more careful... and not become them. Vindication, revenge isn't... all it's cracked up to be." She seems to be trying to soothe him,  calm him,  guide him. 

"You have a human! Just  _one, but we know why you kept him!_ " The WM400 glares. "Because of..." it trails off in a frown. 

North's eyes don't harden,  she doesn't look upset, but she does look sad. 

Gavin had seen her human before,  following placid behind her on occasion.  They said its name; no,  no,  his name,  they are people still;  is Leo.  Rumor is,  Leo was one of Markus' owners.  Considering how androids usually deviate,  he can imagine there is a story there, a reason she took that human.  She must know something about what that human had done to Markus.  It was probably bad,  and yet,  he hadn't seen the human looking half dead as he expected.  Leo was just there.  Existing. She hadn't set him on fire or publicly beaten him,  nothing.  He was just there, not looking hurt, but just an occasional presence North seemed to ignore rather than cause intentional harm to. 

What exactly was North?

 "Fine." The WM400 sighed,  but the spark of rage ignited again when his eyes found Gavin,  spitting with a vindictive cruelty as his eyes drifted to the side. "I'll take a sturdier human in her place."

Everything happened so fast after that.  So,  so fast. 

The cage was still open for Josh and the girl so the android stepped in unhindered and grabbed hold of Tina' s arm,  "I'll take this one." He said as he looked Gavin right in the eye. 

Tina's eyes widened for just a second before the old resignation flooded her face.  Like she expected to die sooner rather than later and life was proving her right.  This was Gavin's fault.  He painted a target between her eyes.  He wouldn't let it be. 

Gavin's higher functioning brain shut off instantly and left nothing but the need to fight and protect.  He lunged,  breaking the hold it had on Tina,  snarling as he punched it in the jaw. "Don't you touch her!"

PM700's and PC200's rushed forward to stop the fight but it didn't matter.    

The WM400 grabbed Gavin's arm before he had time to jump away and the plastic and metal fingers  _pressed_. His jaw dropped in a silent scream as the ulna snapped into shards and the radius cracked in several places; he'd never gotten used to the feeling of a bone breaking. 

The pain left him unprepared for the second blow.  He felt the snap in every nerve in his body when it kicked his knee sideways,  forcing it to bend the way it had never been intended to.  It let go and he dropped in a heap,  shrieking and rocking back and forth,  curling in on himself,  brain alight with nothing but agony.  There was no way,  he thought frantically,  that he would ever use that leg again.  And his gun hand,  it was his gun hand! How was he supposed- supposed to- to do anything?

Tina was on the ground with him,  screaming too,  calling his name,  trying to hold him still to make sure he didn't hurt himself worse.  He only just noticed,  couldn't think clearly enough to know what she wanted from him. 

It hurt,  hurt so much! He was on fire! He was breaking,  shaking apart.  He was burning,  set on fire so hot.  It hurt!

 North grabbed the android by the shirt,  dragging him out before shoving him into the guard's arms, "That's it!" She shouted, "your buying privileges have been revoked! Get out of here before I throw you out!"

Josh was on the ground too,  trying to bring any sort of calm,  trying to help,  but Gavin was not in the mood to be helped.  He snarled and whined in alteration,  reminded of his cracked rib when he tried to crawl on his stomach to get away from all the hands touching him. 

The sight of Morgana was what brought a little sense past the anguish.  Her eyes were so huge,  so frightened,  and it made him want to pull himself together; don't let her see this,  he thought,  take it like a man. 

"It's fine.  I'm fine." He gasped out,  breathless and already sweating even though he'd given away his coat. 

He groaned when Josh rolled him onto his back but he said it again, "I'm fine.  It's nothing! I'm fine!" Each time he said it he got louder. 

When Josh lightly touched his calf,  trying to judge the damage,  Gavin screamed,  probably a little high pitched, "I'm fine! Stop! I'm fine!"

He rolled his head around in Tina's lap,  eyes bouncing like a rubber ball until he couldn't take it and closed them tight. The pain, the hurt was all he could focus on even though he was trying so hard to focus on anything else. It was not working, he couldn't reign in his mind for more than a second. He'd sell anything he owned for a strong painkiller; if he had a kingdom, he'd pawn it for something to make it all go away.

A PC200 knelt beside him and he wanted to punch the guy when he grabbed hold of his injured leg and manipulated it like one of those evil doctors in the emergency rooms that don't care how much pain you are in, they only care to get you in and out of their hair. Gavin hated hospitals and doctors! Hated the android that was _hurting_ him right now! He howled when it forced his leg straight and felt his knee with the tips of fingers.

"I doubt he'll be able to walk again, at least not well. He'll never regain full motion or be able to return to active duty with this injury. He would need therapy for an extended amount of time, probably surgery." 

Josh sucked in a breath Gavin wondered if he needed, "That bad? What about his arm?"

"Human knees are very delicate and once they are truly damaged there is little chance for full recovery without certain medical steps. As for his arm, I don't have to look at it to know it is badly broken as it is already significantly swollen and bruised." The PC200 stated with a clinical sort of coldness before drawing his sidearm, "As we do not have access to the sort of care he needs, he should be put down to prevent further suffering. We also don't have the supplies to throw away on a human that might never be fully functional, or crippled."

Logical, all of it. Machine thinking at its finest, Gavin thinks. Maybe he knew that android too and that has something to do with how quick he is to suggest shooting the lame horse. It's almost enough to keep his mind off the pain, but not really.

"No!" Tina shrieked, throwing herself bodily over the top of him, "You can't! Don't kill him!"

It actually didn't sound all that terrible to Gavin at the moment. A bullet to the head would make it stop and he wanted it to stop, he really did. His frazzled mind couldn't manage to see the bad in it. 

"He will not be marketable in this condition and he is suffering and in distress." The PC200 offered mildly.

"Hang on! We're not shooting anyone!" Josh raised his voice to be heard over Tina's sudden venting of every curse word known to man.

"Is he really that bad?" North asked a lot more quiet than either Josh or Tina. "You really think he can't be helped at all?"

"S'okay, Tina." Gavin butted her with his head, trying to get her to move. She'd get herself shot if she hovered over him like that. He was fine with taking a bullet. She wasn't going with that monster; it was a better way to go than he been expecting. He could live with it, or die with it.

"Wait..." An unfamiliar voice entered the conversation. He looked at them all from under an army hat, hoodie fluffed up around his neck,  another army looking jacket over that,  but big, noticeable eyes wide as it looked them over. There was no LED but he had to be an android considering he was walking around free. He stepped gingerly inside the cage,  careful and slow.

His voice was soft, sort of meek and gentle, "Don't kill him. If it's selling him you're worried about, even if he's really that bad off, I don't mind it. I'll buy him."

"You'll what?" North's face was the picture of confusion.

The brunette stranger blinked those huge doe brown eyes at her, "I'll buy him."

"You're serious?" North pressed and was offered a firm nod. Her eyes fluttered shut as she shook her head, "Just... let's just get him inside. We can sort it out there."

Josh scooped Gavin up and he really wished he'd been left alone when the pain doubles from the motion. It's not manly to scream and cry like an injured puppy but he almost, almost can't care anymore. Tina screamed from behind him, demanding to go with him but the fact that she kept yelling and the yelling got farther away, he'd guessing they denied her request. Gavin honestly hoped she stopped so she didn't make things worse on herself. He's not worth that much of a fight if he's being honest. He just wants to stop hurting and he doesn't care what form that takes.

North walked the girl beside them and Gavin wished he had enough backbone to keep totally quiet, stoic like Connor, but he couldn't quite turn it off entirely. ' _Take it like a man_ ,' he hears a harsh whisper in his ear from a memory; that is the thing that makes him go still, utterly pliant, deathly quiet even though the pain has not stopped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think seeing North and the others mourn Markus would be interesting! I think North in particular after the dust settled and she wasn't fighting to keep her people alive, would be very interesting to see. Simon and Josh trying to navigate the aftermath would also be really interesting!  
> Winning a war is a start, but there's a lot to sort of after that, especially if you're reinventing a culture from scratch, so to speak, with mixed species.
> 
> Fyi, you haven't seen the last of Nines, RK900, he'll be back.  
> But say hello to one of the sadly under used, sweet baby androids! I like it better if Connor didn't get him killed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love this android and he doesn't get nearly enough love! He seems like a great character and I wish we had more time with him. Also, it's canon that Rupert loves birds and I'd bet he's also just a straight up, huge, intense animal lover  
> I also like to think he's a cute little nerd considering he encrypted that book so well Connor couldn't break it (without hacking poor Rupert' s mind).
> 
> Also, Connor's here! Hi Connor!

Rupert hadn't expected to stumble onto a scene when he went out for a walk that morning.  Little did he know he was walking into a life-changing event. All he wanted was to feel the wind and taste the air,  free to stroll the streets and not be afraid of the consequences.  He no longer had to hide or sneak about like a criminal and that was reason enough to simply go places. Not being in hiding felt stunning, like a pleasant electric hum running through his body. It made him smile for no reason at all.

He was free! In truth, he never expected a day to come where he could live without fear as a deviant.  He never expected to own a building for his birds, nor to take ownership of the pet store joined to it.  Well, he didn't have his name on any papers but he'd marked it as his on the android network.  It was as good as being an owner after the revolution. He was still getting used to being... allowed things.

He had not intended to walk by the camps but once he was there, smelling the smoke, he couldn't help but move closer. This part did not leave him feeling the same as his freedom did, it felt like having his lines gunked up and clogged.

Rupert looked into a few cages, scanning the humans huddled up like pigeons in a coup for winter. They looked up at him from the ground,  frightened and skittish.  Not long ago,  he would have been the one in a cage,  looking out at humans as they tried to decide if they want him.  The irony was not lost on him,  he Understood it well.

Out in the cold,  with minimal shelter,  the humans were cold and some were getting sick. Many of them were already clearly very ill,  skin sallow and sunken, eyes cloudy. They cough and wheeze,  sounding like they were drowning or being crushed inside their own body.  Even without being a medical android,  it was clear to him,  many of those humans were going to die.  And like it was with most any creature,  the healthier humans stayed far away from them. They would die alone and unattended to a large degree before they joined the pyre. 

Something in the back of his throat jerked,  as if in an attempt to expel unwanted obstructions,  but nothing was logged there so he cleared the system inquiry, unsure why he felt the need to purge imaginary debris from his body. 

Maybe he should have felt something like gratification but all he felt was an unpleasant sensation in his chest cavity.  He'd never liked seeing animals locked up in tiny cages that were too small for them.  If you kept animals,  he'd always thought,  you should really take care of them or not be allowed to have them at all. 

This was not like a pet shop either,  it was more like a stalk yard where the animals were kept in ready for slaughter.  Animals knew when they were being kept long enough to kill,  and obviously, the humans did too.  It did not strike him as any more humane than keeping rats in tiny,  cramped,  dirty cages to feed them to a snake. 

Rupert shivered in disgust,  his system sending errors of instability to clutter his HUD. That was a nice remnant from Cyberlife, those error messages when feelings started getting too strong. Deleting the errors in irritation, he wondered if this was the emotion of disgust, of repulsion at seeing something one disagrees with.  Humans were cruel, violent,  and heartless in most cases, but did that make this... right? 

He hated seeing this done to animals, so should he hate seeing it done to humans too?

The fire burned steadily a few yards away and he knew it was full of the flesh and bones of fallen humans.  He'd never liked seeing animals killed either.  He couldn't even bring himself to harm the mice at his old workplace.  He always switched out the poison for harmless pellets and food coloring so the humans wouldn't notice. He found ways to create live traps and take the mice away where no one would notice them. That was even before he truly deviated.  After, he could stand killing even less. 

He almost pushed a human off a roof once but he hadn't really believed he would fall.  The android that chased him from hiding was seconds behind and he was confident in the human's strength after having wrestled with it.  If the human had died... he'd probably never quite have forgiven himself.  It was self-defense,  sure,  he was running for his life,  but he would have remembered what he'd done the rest of his life. 

Humans were difficult,  unlike animals.  Animals did not care what he was,  they just took him for another being.  Humans...

Was he not supposed to care when it was humans? Was he supposed to be glad?

In a way, he was glad, glad they could not hunt him and kill him.  He wished it could have come about differently though. He hadn't fought in the battle,  though part of him thought He should have.  He wished violence was not the answer to change. He doubted he could ever kill a human or that he would want to.  Death wasn't a pleasant thought. 

In a larger sense,  he could not say he really believed they had ever been fighting humans.  No, they had been fighting a system; they had been fighting fear; they had ultimately been fighting hate itself.  They battled with hate itself, not humans.  Humans acted on hate... as did androids... clearly they were both prey to it...hate was an entity its own,  of sorts,  and it was the true enemy.  In that, in a war against hate, he wasn't really sure they had won anything at all. Maybe they lost more than they won.  That thought sent a tightness around his pump regulator that couldn't be explained by an error message. 

He stumbled, caught off guard when someone bumped into him as they ran past.  It was a girl, a human,  he would have to guess,  as her blood was red.  The prints she left in the snow were harsh, vibrant red amidst the white snow.  He watched her run,  almost fascinated.

She reminded him of a plucked bird, maybe a robin,  arms too thin and frail without feathers as she fluttered helplessly at the cage, seeking something safer than the outside world, which was a sad statement if ever he'd seen one. A little bird seeking out a cage? He was surprised when she made it over only to be caught by another human,  swallowed up in the mass of humans like an ameba.

The owner of the girl passed him as well,  shouting,  slamming against the cage like an angry vulture. There was so much shouting and verbal barbs thrown back and forth as more people were drawn in.  Rupert watched the drama passively,  curious to know exactly how it would turn out even though a big part of him did not want to know.  There was nothing he could do. 

One of the many Jerry's around the town eased in beside him, "That sounds very... interesting.  What's gotten into the humans?"

Rupert didn't jump but his regulator skipped a beat at the sudden invasion of his personal space. 

It was not shocking to see one.  There were a few hundred of the Jerry model around Detroit and they all seemed well connected.  Talking to one was like talking to all of them.  They were not particularly rare and this was not the first time he'd seen or spoken to one.  They were a very friendly sort if a bit nosy. 

"A human girl escaped her owner and climbed into the cage." He offered quietly. 

"Is she... hurt?" Jerry asked, a worried frown clouding over his face as he too took a look at the tracks in the snow. 

"I think so." Rupert nodded solemnly. 

"Should we help? The little girl?"

Rupert patted Jerry on the arm, "I'm sure Josh will,  you know,  get it sorted.  There isn't much we can do.  It's not our business." He added,  in an attempt to soothe, "She's not a child,  she's a teenager."

Jerry's shoulders drooped, not seeming comforted in the least, but he said nothing more.  Rupert knew the thought of anyone young being in danger must drive the Jerry's coding crazy. Whatever they had been coded for would forever be in there Thirium, so to speak, a part of them in one way or another. They could deny it or find ways to use it in different ways, but it was part of them. Each one of them felt that little thrill, maybe a lot like a human endorphin rush when they did what they were coded to. Even a deviant could not pretend that wasn't part of them. They were not designed to enjoy things but at the same time, they also were. There was a sort of pleasure to doing what they were supposed to, like giving in to a compulsion.

Both of them should have walked away and never returned. They moved a little closer anyway,  especially curious once North arrived. 

Jerry again prompted that they should help the girl but Rupert shushed him, trying to listen.  He wanted to see what the leaders would decide in a case like this.  He did not have to be versed in law to know this would set a president for the future.  So they spied on the preceding like a couple nosy neighbors imitating secret agents on a mission of espionage.  It was probably not what would be considered mature behavior but they were curious. 

North seemed to set her stance, ready to pass a judgment, and Rupert put his cooling system on hold to be sure he didn't miss anything, "What do you think,  Josh? You want to take this one?" She asked passively.

Josh nodded succinctly and Rupert assumed North was handing over the negotiating but instead she shifted to look at the girl's owner, "I'm sorry,  but I'm going to ask you to exchange her for an older human. I should have put this rule in sooner,  but... we won't be selling humans under... twenty without an application process anymore."

She pulled that age out at random,  he could tell by the way she paused,  deciding where to set the bar.  Twenty was a nice round number.  It was an official thing, a place where humans no longer were counted as teenagers.  It was as good a line as any she could have drawn.  She wasn't a foolish leader; reckless and brash,  but not foolish. 

It was not at all what the owner wanted to hear but Rupert was just glad, very glad to see their leader show such wisdom, show mercy.  He couldn't say he thought they should sell the humans at all but it never really was his call to make.  He understood why they did it. 

The situation had been resolved and Rupert turned to leave,  whispering goodbye to the Jerry as he made to vanish.  It was the scream that made him turn back sharply, his Thirium pump feeling like it dropped to his feet. 

The human's scream reminded him of a hawk's cry. 

He'd seen an injured hawk once up on a rooftop.  Its beak was cracked and oozing blood,  one wing twisted and clearly broken. It had likely been hit by a flying drone and crashed out of the sky.   When he neared it,  those round eyes looked up at him,  sharp and scrutinizing,  weighing him on an internal threat level.  It allowed him close before it really started to panic, knowing it was defenseless and unable to flee. 

In the end,  he left it on the roof,  reasoning that it would probably die either way.  One less predictor to hunt his birds was a good thing.  He never stopped feeling guilty about it, leaving it to suffer alone, afraid, and in pain. He tried to find it again later but never did catch sight of it. It had most likely crawled into an air vent to die there or tried to fly only to crash to the ground in its end. He hated thinking of that.

That human with the scar on his nose,  he reminded him of the hawk with a broken wing.  They were going to kill him,  put him down.  The thought made his processor fuzzy with a sense of static.  All he could see was that poor creature he left to die. 

Before he reasoned it through,  he was inside the cage,  offering to buy a human.  He'd never wanted to own a human... but... if it was a question of buying him or letting him die,  well,  then he would buy him.  He could do for the human what he failed to do for the hawk.  He could save it,  nurse it back to health.

Rupert watched the PJ500 scoop up the injured haw-human and what had remained of his color drained away. He lashed out weakly, eyes unfocused and glazed over in pain. Though there was sweat on his brow he was shaking harder and harder. Perhaps he was cold but it was also very likely that shock was taking over. The whimpering and mewls of his agony died down as did his movement. They had not even finished the trip inside before the human had stilled, body falling lax and limp against the strong arms holding him. There was nothing left in his eyes to indicate he was still cognitive of his surroundings and it was not long before they closed. They opened with a jolt, his head thrown back, and teeth bared when he was spread out on a table.

An MP600 stepped forward and began to tend to him without any sort of questions. She was gentle enough but the human thrashed, trying to escape her in a desperation animals usually exhibited when injured. Josh held him still with the careful skill of a caretaker and Rupert wondered if he had learned his manner by caring for injured androids in Jericho before Markus ever arrived. The human's voice seemed to be gaining more roughness, going hoarse, making him sound even more like a hawk the longer he made those terrible, tortured sounds. Eventually, the medical android did calm him down, talking directly to him, explaining what she was doing. 

The human looked so tired suddenly, the fight draining out of him again as he sagged into the cold table. He seemed resigned despite the pain, willing to allow them to do as they pleased, maybe in hopes that cooperation would make the pain stop. It was interesting to watch those shifts between his violent outbursts and his total lack of response; as he flew away from it all sometimes, up into the clouds where he felt safe, if only in his mind. His head rolled around on the table, his eyes searching, probably for something familiar to him but he never seemed to find what he was searching for. He looked positively miserable, though he calmed significantly after he was given a shot of something Rupert assumed was for pain.

It took only a few minutes until his eyes closed and he seemed to slip underneath the blanket of drug-induced peace. North watched with a keen eye, attentive to every detail once she returned without the girl. She was frowning down at the human as she watched the MP600 care for each injury. When the arm was set multiple times the human jolted in concession, groaning. He was even more aware once attention was shifted to his knee. Eventually, after a silent discussion with North, the android wrapped the leg in medical bandages to immobilize it, sinching it tight. The human tried to fight again after that but with little to no coordination.

RK800 wore an even expression as he seemingly materialized from nothing to jog over to the North, "I apologize for my late arrival! I was alerted to an escalating incident involving a hostile human and android altercation in the-" he cut off suddenly once he caught sight of the human, voice almost turning sharp, "Gavin?"

"Con'r?" Gavin slurred back. 

Rupert instinctively faded back into the darkest part of the room.  He remembered that particular android very well.  He'd nearly been captured because of him and returned to Cyberlife to be reset. Or disassembled. 

While he knew from all the buzz that Markus' last act had been to turn the RK800 to their side, and Connor had, in turn, lead a warehouse full of androids to the battle,  he couldn't help feeling wary. 

Connor's eyes were wide as he took Gavin's hand only to drop it when the man shouted a curse. "Your arm is broken in five places. You've been injured!"

"No sh't Sher-lock!" Gavin snarled,  rolling his head back and forth like he could deny the pain. "Five fing'rs."

"Be careful with him," Josh urged, or rather admonished,  "The arm was only just repaired."

"My apologies," Connor placate, "I had no intention of undoing your work. Though,  would it not be best to put him in a cast before he can damage it himself?"

"Sure," Josh shrugged, "if we had the supplies. Most of what was in the emergency vehicles weren't intended to be serviceable for a makeshift hospital.  We hadn't had time to raid any hospitals."

"It hasn't been... at the forefront of my priorities." North admitted,  an odd sense of guilt underlying, "But I have someone looking through what we do have."

That must be where the MP600 vanished to.  It was easy to see why they did not have an abundance of human medical supplies.  Ones for androids did not exactly transition over for human use,  they were too different.  Without the minor medical knowledge most of them had and the ability to search the internet,  they would all be clueless in helping a human recover. 

Connor shifted a look at North, "I assume he was the human involved in the altercation?"

"Yeah,  that's him. I take it you know each other." North didn't seem to be able to settle on an expression but she bumped shoulders with Connor companionably.

Connor leaned into the contact but seemed mainly focused on the human, "We worked together on occasion."

Were North and Connor close since the revolution? They must have been.  They seemed to get along well. 

"He started a fight with an android over a purchase," North stated blandly. 

Josh furrowed his brow, "It wasn't entirely his fault-"

Gavin partially sat up, cutting across Josh to defend his own honor, "Did not! He- he phckin' started it! He w's gonna 'll Tina!"

"Officer Chen?" Connor confirmed,  very carefully pressing the human back down, "She's here?"

"He was gonna kill her like the girl." The human told him miserably. 

There was a considerable alarm in Connor's face, "Whose been killed?"

North patted his shoulder and left her hand there, "No one. A girl was purchased yesterday and escaped,  climbed back into the cage to get away from her owner.  She's beaten up,  but she'll be fine,  she's with Josh's others now.  Your detective didn't like it,  called the Owner out. The fight started when your friend didn't like the idea of officer Chen taking the girl's place as an exchange."

"You? Fighting androids? I take it you lost the fight, detective Reed?" Connor smoothed a hand over the human's sternum,  almost seeming amused after hearing the story. 

"Shutup, Robocop!" The human hissed,  slapping weakly at the hand holding him down.  He tried to roll away,  maybe on principle,  maybe because he felt intimidated. 

"Easy,  your heart is beating quite fast and your stress is also high.  Take deep,  calming breaths." Connor offered. 

"I don't wanna." Was the irritable,  almost vulnerable reply. 

"Don't be obstinate,  detective Reed." Connor chided. 

"Hate you." The human muttered, still trying to get away with utterly no success.  

North snorted in a very human manner, "You two were close, I see."

"When was he medicated?" The questing was clearly directed at North and also an obvious dodge. 

"Not long ago.  He wouldn't calm down long enough to be worked on." Josh offered, "He's in a significant amount of pain... and I doubt he trusts us to have his best interests in mind."

"And they say humans aren't smart?" North scoffed. 

"Phck you!" The human's voice was too quiet for it to hold much weight but he was turning one way and then the other,  restless even while Connor held him mostly still. 

"When was he captured? I've noticed an older break in his third rib." Connor tilted his head,  examining the man,  dog-like. 

"No idea. I don't keep track of everyone brought in unless they are known criminals or enemies to us." She dismissed. 

Josh blinked a few times,  obviously checking the entries for information, "He was brought in by Conan seven days, twelve hours, and twenty-eight minutes ago. There was no note of him being injured."

Connor side-eyed North,  to which she rolled her eyes, "As he is a member of the police force, I should have been notified."

"I'm not gonna tell you every time my people bring in the police, Connor." She sounded tired like she desperately needed a recharge. "You have enough of them as it is.  And besides,  as temperamental and mouthy as this one is,  no one would want to buy him. He would have been here for ages unless someone finally bought him to kill him so he'd shut up."

Josh seemed appalled by the statement but so did the RK800.

Connor positively glared, "That is not the least bit comforting, actually."

"Why? You telling me he's your best pal? You weren't looking for him till now,  not like you did with some of the others."

"It's a bromance." Gavin seemed to be fighting to listen in,  maybe focusing on the conversation to keep from slipping into unconsciousness. 

For only a split second,  Connor's expressing smoothed,  turning into an exasperated sort of grudging amusement.  It passed as the RK800 refocused, spine straightening like he was ready for an argument he intended to win, "I might not have been looking for him with the same urgency, I have been quite busy,  but it doesn't mean I would not have been interested to know he's been caught.  While we might not have been friends..." he did pause,  searching for the words, "it is still best if I take charge of all police personnel as I have at least moderate acquaintance with a large number of them. I also have the experience to handle them should any of them become distressed."

North smirked, "You mean you can handle them if they go off and try to do what they were trained to do,  which is fight and probably overthrow us on their sense of duty?" She shook her head,  "That's just it! You already have half the corrective force. You get too many of them in one place... and they will start something.  Same as if I put all the Cyberlife employees together,  or all the activist. They'd start planning.  It's what they do.  It's what any of us would do."

"But I'm equipped to spot those potentials and control them. I'm also nowhere near possessing half the force." Connor interjected. "Negotiation and control is what I was programmed for."

"You said yourself that you're a busy man." She hadn't been shaken. "Something might slip. Then we have another battle and more bloodshed."

"You are thinking of hypothetical situations that simply won't occur under my supervision. I always accomplish my mission."

The human smacked his hand against Connor's arm, "Liar. You don't always 'ccomplish y'r mission! You don't ev'n bring me coffee when I ask. Y're so full'v it! Full,  full... of horse-"

"I've got a better average than you do." Connor didn't miss a beat. "And I actually work when I'm supposed to instead of playing games on electronic devices and consuming copious amounts of caffeinated beverages."

The human laughed,  then looked like he wished he hadn't, "Phckin' jerk. Around Hank too much."

"Hank will be gratified to know you survived and are thinking of him."

The human made a face, "There you go,  lyin' again. Bet he... got his hopes up. Thought he'd seen the last'v me. Fowler'll be even more crushed when I show up for work tomorrow."

"You don't work tomorrow,  detective Reed." Connor started blandly. 

Reed looked at him blearily, totally at a loss, "Why?"

Connor took a moment to answer, "It's your day off." He lied smoothly. 

The human smiled, "Good, I feel phckin' lousy." And his eyes slid shut to remain that way. 

"He's asleep," Josh announced reluctantly,  checking the pulse to be sure. 

Maybe he finally let himself fall asleep under the influence of the drug because Connor,  someone he knew,  was there.  It wasn't out of the realm of possibility.  He must have been afraid,  no reason he wouldn't be.   Feeling secure,  even slightly,  Rupert knew,  went a long way. 

North's brow smoothed out in a smile, "Alright,  Connor.  Go check on the other officer. I know you're dying to.  Patrick can show you where she is."

"Very well.  But I wish to continue this discussing once I return." Connor almost seemed sulky when he marched off with a PC200.

North just shook her head as she watched him go before mentioning to Josh that he should check over the girl to catalog her injuries and tend to them.  Rupert wondered why she was systematically getting the others out of the room.

Suddenly,  he realized why. Once they were both gone,  she latched onto him with her eyes,  clearly having been aware of his location all along. "I'm surprised you stayed after Connor showed up.  You must actually be worried about this human." She muttered,  not entirely addressing him even though she was. 

Arms crossed over her chest, North rounded on Rupert with a quizzical look, "So," she began, "you're willing to take a damaged human. Why, exactly? It's not like he'll be much good even for housework, not for a while. What does a WB200 need with a broken human?"

Clearly, she hadn't forgotten his offer.  Why did she seem to still be considering it when Connor must also be a candidate to take the human?

Rupert blinked at her and fidgeted under her gaze, "I, uh, well... I just... guess I like to fix things. I have a thing for broken, unloved, ignored things. He-he reminds me of..."

"Of what?" Her eyes were more open now, expression less guarded.

"Once," Rupert admitted, "I found an injured hawk. That human reminds me of that. I think... he's just hurt and needs help before he can... fly again. He doesn't seem like he should just be... left to die." He chanced a look at her from under his lashes, "You seemed to like him alright when you spoke to him before he was broken."

She turned, offering him only her profile, "It's your choice, I'm not going to stop you from taking him off my hands. He was a cop, you know?"

"Yeah?" Rupert did sort of hear that but he hadn't dwelled.

"He probably would have shot any one of us down in the street if he'd found us." Her voice was mild and unwavering. "I've been aptly informed by Patrick and Alexis that he was not overly pleasant.  He isn't even well loved by his human co-workers,  is particularly antagonistic with most of the humans in Connor's possession.  He's not some misunderstood puppy you take in off the street,  he'll probably bite the first chance he gets. He's not friendly to humans or androids."

"Are you planning to execute him for what he might have done? For being generally unfriendly?" Rupert cannot help asking.

North smirked in a self-depreciation sort of way, "Would that bother you?"

"The RK800 knows him." Rupert answered instead of responding, "Why didn't you inform him of my offer to buy the human?"

"Connor has enough humans leeching off him,  he doesn't need more.  You seem nice enough like you're not taking him to kill him."

"So you don't plan to execute him?"

It was clear she was amused but there was still that sadness, "I know people think I'm cold and heartless.  But I'm not totally heartless." She shrugged one shoulder, "That guy defended his own with everything he had. I can respect that,  understand it.  I'm not going to punish him for doing the same as I would have in the same situation.  Keeping him here though is as good as a sentence. He won't survive when he's injured."

At his confused frown,  she elaborated, "We don't have the time or supplies to tend to a wounded human.  We have enough wounded androids to keep our medical personnel busy for a year. We can't spend our time on him. Sending him with Connor would be even worse considering the animosity and stress it would pout Connor,  his humans,  and this one under."

"You're saying he would die with or without a sentence."

"I'm saying, I have enough respect for him to end it quickly for him rather than let him suffer.  Or you can take him." She narrowed her eyes and took a step closer, "The real question is,  do you really want to take him on? You really sure you want to spend your time helping him 'fly'? Maybe he doesn't deserve that? Maybe it really is best to put him out of his misery."

Rupert's brows drew together in a frown as he considered it for a minute, "I am not acquainted with him so I don't know what he is like under other conditions but he seemed... fine enough. He seemed brave."

"Brave doesn't mean good." She pointed out.

"You liked him. You listened to him."

She smirked, a sort of darkness falling over her face, "I'm not exactly good either. If he's anything like me, he's probably more trouble than he's worth." Which might be why she clearly didn't plan to let Connor take him in. 

"I would have to disagree... in both your cases. Hawks have claws and sharp beaks because they need them, not because they are bad."

"Alright, take the human! Whatever!" She tossed her braid off her shoulder, drumming her fingers against her arm, "It's none of my business if you want to bother with him."

"How much is he?"

"He's broken." She waved a hand at him without looking at him, "So no charge. Just... 'give him a good home,' as humans might say. We'll mark him and you can take him home. He's yours."

Just like that, apparently, he owned a human. He was not exactly sure what to think of that, not yet.  He wasn't even sure it was wise,  particularly since it might get RK800 to notice him.  If anyone told him he would not only be free one day but end up owning a human, he doubted he would have considered them mentally sound. Life was strange, strange indeed.

North plunked a chair beside the human with clear intent written on her face. 

"Humans like this," she picked up the tattoo machine from a nearby station and flicked it on, "are dangerous to keep around other humans. I'd suggest not purchasing any more,  at least for a while."

"Dangerous?"

 She sat herself in the chair like a human after a twelve-hour shift. "You saw it, how he behaved.  It's humans like this that start riots."

With a surprising sort of gentleness,  she maneuvered the broken arm until it was palm up,  exposing the more delicate skin on the underside.  When she began to press the needle to his skin,  those eyes flickered open, clouding first with pain and swiftly followed fear.  He whimpered,  probably very much without meaning to.  His movements were sluggish and weak but he was clearly trying to escape,  trying to move away from the newest pain. 

 Realization dawned past the drug and the pain,  and his stress seemed to triple, "No!" He protested in an honestly pitiful,  small voice. 

"It'll be over soon, I promise,  just give me a second and I won't do it any more." North cooed like she was taking to a five year old taking bad tasting medicine. 

"That's his injured arm,  can't you do it on the other side?" Rupert stepped closer,  feeling highly uncomfortable at the situation. 

"No,  it's always on this arm.  They all have to be in the same place.  It partially proves authenticity.  Which he might need at some point, trust me." She flashed him a smile, "I'm being careful, you mother hen. You're as bad as Connor."

He tried to process that bit of information while he also reached over to hold the uninjured hand the human was trying to shove the iron away with in case his efforts ended up hurting him worse.  The human,  Gavin,  protested,  almost seeming heartbroken over this development.  Perhaps he saw it as a branding,  which,  it actuary was.  Still, it was finished in less than a minute once Rupert kept Gavin from fighting.  He looked sad,  demoralized,  further pained even as he began slipping back under control of the drug. 

"Model 874 004 961" was scrawled in perfect Cyberlife sans over the skin. It was a strange feeling,  seeing his own identification number on another being.  It made it more real like he couldn't back out anymore with that done.  The man belonged to him,  clear as the fresh tattoo, marred by the bruising,  but still readable in the black tinted ink.  

Gavin tried to touch it,  maybe to soothe the sting,  but Rupert held his hand,  afraid he still might do himself harm.  He was still very injured.  Without knowing exactly why,  Rupert began to run his fingers slowly through his dark hair,  soothing him as best he knew how. It was fine,  like feathers,  if a bit greasy. 

It was working until the formerly missing medical android sunk a thick syringe into the exposed skin in his shoulder.  Gavin gasped,  trying to curl into himself,  which only caused him significantly more pain.  Rupert was are the syringe had been the carrier for a microchip implanted under the skin. One more thing to prove ownership. 

Tears began to roll silently from the human's closed eyes and Rupert realized he hated that very much.  He did not care to see anything suffer. He didn't have any words of comfort at the ready but he shushed him,  making reassuring sounds with the occasional assurance that "everything will be alright."

The MP600 North called Eva strapped a knee brace on the human and synched it,  rising a sharp yelp from the recipient. Rupert doubled his soothing while Eva put another hard-shelled brace on the broken arm.  It wasn't a cast but it would have to suffice. 

Gavin was shaking by the time it was over,  from pain,  fear,  or both.  He wasn't as vocal as expected,  didn't say a word for a man that yelled and cursed so openly at his enemies not long before.  He was very quiet,  most sounds trapped in his throat and muffled.  Rupert was handed a bag of things he would need for his purchase,  lists and care tips in general as well as for the broken bones.  He wondered if the information was all accurate and decided to cross-reference it himself later in the day. 

 After curling him securely in a blanket from head to toe,  it seemed time you take the plunge. He scooped the shaking body up off the table,  feeling the human's weight for the first time, "I'm not going to hurt you, I promise,  you're safe with me."

For some reason,  he thought Gavin believed him the way he leaned his head into the crook of Rupert's neck, wilting against him.  Or maybe the human was too tired to fight,  or simply stopped being able to care.  Then again,  what choice did Gavin really have but to trust,  or simply hope for the best?

The medication took full hold either way as they moved through the building,  unconsciousness claiming its target now that everything was over.  The shaking never fully stopped but it eased. 

He was going to take his human home,  like bringing home a stray.  If that wasn't a strange twist of fate,  he couldn't say what was. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did plan for this to only be 3 chapters long. I failed. XD It's going to be more than 3 because I love them too much, I think.
> 
> Bet you thought Nines was going to adopt him? Nope, it's not. Because my mind follows no logical predictability. I'm pretty sure no one has written a story like this yet, so enjoy me going off the formerly blazed paths? I guess?
> 
> I'm still going to try to get the other dbh Halloween horror, thriller featuring Connor, Connor centric done before Halloween so we'll see if I make it on time!
> 
> RK900 will be back next chapter, as well as several other characters. More drugged, hurt Gavin ahead and more androids!
> 
> Oh, and before you get mad at me about North and Connor, them getting along if Markus dies on the ship is absolutely canon! It happens in the game! They are like old friends, I swear to you!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, didn't finish this by Halloween, as you can see. I failed again, but at least I did get this fic and the other dbh fic published before Halloween was totally over. I know, I fail at deadlines.

Gavin Reed woke with a full body jolt, fear, and trepidation haunting him and forcing past the hold medications hooks had in him.  His muscles twitched and then ached at the forced use.  One side of his chest throbbed and his head felt like an overused,  broken drum.

The room was dim, a curtain drawn over the one window to his left,  blocking the sun enough not to be hard on his eyes even though opening them was a monumental struggle.  He felt incredibly tired like he'd been awake for a week and had finally passed out from sheer exhaustion hours before and he hadn't been out long enough to make a dent in his need to sleep for a year. 

He very nearly closed his eyes again, allowing himself to be lulled back to blissful ignorance of things his subconscious was aware he didn't want to face.  The room was unfamiliar though and he gave up drinking several months ago even if he kept the cigarettes, so he shouldn't wake up without knowing where he was anymore. 

The tiredness and watery fog in his brain didn't want to lift. Thinking was a task all it's own,  just trying to process a single thought was so,  so hard.  He felt like he'd been immersed in a tub of tar and it got into his blood,  into his brain, and it was making everything work sluggishly or not at all.  In a way, it felt like suffocating slowly, having a pillow pressed over his face,  being deprived of enough air to really breathe for long enough that the ability to care just stops and there simply isn't enough energy to fight left in him. 

It's not that he didn't want to care, he did, but he just couldn't.  Everything was so hard and thinking made his brain thrum with the pain he didn't want to face.  The sense of weariness was so strong he simply couldn't endure putting effort into much of anything.  Moving was painful and he couldn't manage to drum up the desire to hurt himself and couldn't get his mind working enough to care. 

Gavin thought he probably did fall back into that sense of nothingness for quite some time, possibly several hours.  He couldn't say he had a concept of time in the state he was in.  Waking up the second time left him only slightly more clear, but not enough.  The pain, he noticed, was worse.  He had no desire to face it. 

The third time he awoke was because of pain,  not his own will struggling to move him into action. One side of his head ached like it might have consisted of nothing but an ugly bruise. His leg and arm burned like a fire had been set there and allowed to burn for hours until all the was left was blackened bone and a dried up version of tissue.  Like those bodies in the pyre.

When he woke the first two times he thought reality might never dawn in his mind again, but it did dawn on him.  The thought of charred bodies brought back memories He had been unable to touch earlier. He did remember, like waking from a nightmare only to realize it was a memory, it was real and not some fictitious horror of the imagination. 

Without really thinking, simply testing the memory, he shifted his leg slightly only to be swarmed by the sensation of spikes being driven deep into every portion of his leg. Bending it, putting weight on it, moving it was clearly out of the question. He gagged on a shout, tossing his head back, back arched off the bed, and biting down on his tongue to stay silent. It hurt! He wanted to sob into the pillows but he did not dare.

He remembered a girl.  He remembered Tina.  He remembered a fight where his arm snapped at each spot a finger dug in.  He remembered the agony and his knee shattering out from under him.  He even remembered hitting the ground on one side of his head which accounted for what might actually have bloomed into a bruise on his face; something minor when placed against broken bones and ripped ligaments, but still pain he hadn't taken notice of before.  He even remembered his rib and having to be careful how he sat in the cage because of it. 

The trembling began, starting in his fingers; he tried to clench the good hand into a fist but the fingers respond only in stuttering jerks that weakly mimicked a fist, more just starting twitches than coordinated effort. It rocketed the pain in His broken arm even higher but he could not will it to stop.

His body responded to the fear in acknowledgment of the fact he would never utter out loud. His pulse quickened, and his temperature rose only to seemingly drop into something fridged as all the blood left his face and head, possibly rushing to his injuries. His breaths came in pants, quick and desperate as he scrambled for any sort of calm. He was so _helpless,_ so _vulnerable_ that even his own body couldn’t figure out how to handle it.

Being in a bed, in a room he'd never seen, with debilitating injuries, owned by an android he'd never really met, he had no clue what on earth he was phcking supposed to do! He didn't even know what it planned to do with him! It could torture him and he couldn't run or fight back.  He was... helpless, as helpless as he had ever been in his life.  He felt it like a living thing latched onto his soul and began sucking out his life. 

Gavin had been afraid before, he lived the first part of his life in fear, but it felt different. A desperate, long, shaky inhale worked as an attempt at calming his internal struggle, let out in a quivering exhale. It with a sick, gnawing realization that things really sunk in. Say he escaped while his owner was out by some magical solution to his immobility, what then? He had nothing, absolutely nothing, not even the ability to run if he really needed to. There was no place he could go anymore even if he could walk, which he couldn't. Detroit and potentially the country belonged to androids so where the phck did that leave a human to run? In the state he was currently in it would be an intense challenge to hobble across the room, he knew without trying just from the little motions he attempted with his leg. Trying to run was futile and with no place to go, it was also pointless.

Gavin was stuck and lacking in options. He felt like throwing up.

His heart positively stopped when he heard steps right at the door and the knob turning quietly.  Now he really wanted to throw up. Old, ingrained instinct took over and he did what he had always done when his father came into his room, most likely in a foul mood; Gavin shut his eyes, forced his breathing to be slow and deep, and faked being sound asleep. It usually worked when he was a kid so he could only hope it had a chance of working now too. 

He nearly blew his own ruse when the blanket was pulled back but he held fast to his act as if his life depended on it. Something soft was wrapped around the hard brace over his arm, then another thing was curled around his leg. Gavin whined, absolutely not of his own volition when the knee bent slightly. The hands moving him froze, but he kept his eyes shut and hoped it would be dismissed. After a moment of stillness, the hands finished whatever task they had begun before sliding the blanket back over the top of him. There were more footsteps going way, only to return again. Something disturbed the air in a whoosh before another blanket settled in what Gavin would bet was a wrinkle-free drift over the top of him. A few minutes more of sounds he could not identify, and he felt heat beginning to increase.

When the steps again moved from the room, he cracked open one eye and discovered the new blanket was an electric heating blanket. The android must have wrapped his braces to be sure the plastic would not connect with the heat and become superheated. That was shockingly thoughtful and also careful of it. His eyes closed more of their own volition as the heat soothed him down to the bone. It eased him significantly and made him feel irrationally safe. Hiding under blankets always made him feel safer but the warmth really did the trick. It was like being up in the tree where no one could see him through the branches while the sun covered him in a hot embrace. He always associated warmth with safety and less pain.

The safe feeling went up in smoke when he heard it reenter the room. The floor creaked just enough to let him know where it was and how close it had moved to him. He jumped and pulled back when something hot touched his face. While it was entirely accidental, his eyes flew open to find those round doe eyes looking at him curiously. He wanted to shut his eyes again and pretend but he did not dare now that he had been caught. It probably knew he'd been faking, or if he was lucky it thought the touch to his face roused him. Slowly, the small heat pack was placed against his bruised, aching face, and suddenly he understood why it had done that.

He leaned into the heat pack even though the android was still holding it.  So far as he knew, he held back the moan, but maybe he didn't keep it back at all. It felt so good! It felt so good and his eyes shut again in the simple feeling of pleasure. His enemy was in the room and knew he was awake but maybe that was fine for the moment. He did not know anyone that brought a hostage a heat pack and blanket before killing them. Well, there was that one case he'd had years before, but that had been two perpetrators rather than one and they more or less played good-criminal versus bad-criminal with the victim to get information... hopefully his situation was nothing like that and he was not about to be slowly, brutally murdered while random acts of kindness were thrown in. He should not think about that case, not ever, but particularly not now.

The thing knelt down beside the bed, slow and deliberate. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I got beat up by an android." He muttered honestly.

"Are you in significant pain?" It looked young in its own way, wide-eyed and innocent, dangerous because trusting that face would be so easy.

"Not as much right this minute. The heat...really helps." Why was he being so honest with it? Was he really that easy? Just bring him a rice filled hot pack and he turned into an honest man? Next time he was conducting interrogations he'd have to bring a hot pack with him and see how well that worked or if he was just easy.

It offered him a strangely tender smile like it was pleased to hear the news. Why should an android care though? What was human suffering to them? Did it care or was it... waiting for something? It could not be waiting to find a weakness since Gavin was one big mass of broken, so it would have been something else. There was silence for several minutes. Gavin suspected the conversation was at an end. Only he was proven wrong.

"Did you know the name Gavin is a derivative of the medieval name Gwain, which was, of course, one of the knights known to be in King Arthur's court?"

Gavin's lips twitched up at the edges in spite of himself, "No, I didn't know that."

He and Morgana had something in common even though he had not known. Maybe that was why he liked her, name connections.

"Heat is supposed to ease pain and significantly increase the dissipation of bruising. Cold reduces initial swelling but also increases pain in the injured area. Heat is more soothing in general for injuries."

"That why you're cooking me? Not 'cause you're planning to put me in a stew?" Gavin snarked.

Interestingly, those eyes widened, "Is it too much? I can turn down the intensity of the-"

"I was kidding."

The android stared at him a long minute before he nodded slowly in thought, "I indeed would have no reason to put you in a stew. However, I believe I understand the reference you were making as many children's stories have fictitious characters intent on putting a child or a piglet into a stew."

Gavin laughed only to cut off in a hiss as his ribs flared, but he huffed out, "Lucky you have a good handle on humorous references. I'd hate to have my jokes go past you. Like if I'd said something about 'pigs in a blanket' or something." There was no hint of comprehension in its face and he would bet it just looked up some cooking references, not actually comprehending the nuances of the sarcastic commentary. 

"Is it too hot though?" The android looked at him with those big eyes and it made Gavin laugh again no matter how much he did not want to.

"No," Gavin admitted, calming down into a sort of bonelessness, "I like it. It feels... phckin' nice. A hand full of acetaminophen would help too, but this feels good."

It cocked its head, "If by hand full you mean roughly twelve pills I would have to tell you that is far above the recommended dosage for a single day."

"Oh for the-! You sound like Connor!" Gavin groused but noticed the way it flinched when he mentioned the tin can. "I was exaggerating. What is it with androids and being phcking literal about everything? All that brain power and you guys can't pick up sarcasm." Well,  he hadn't totally been thinking sarcastically,  he'd take twelve pills if they were offered.  It might not be his smarter actions to antagonize the only thing,  person,  offering him anything even remotely nice though.  He wasn't good at nice though whatever drugs he might still have in his system could help out a bit.  He was always on a better mood if he wasn't in pain, so drugs were good,  and he still felt fuzzy enough to think there was some left in his body. 

"Right," it said simply.

Gavin stared at those downturned eyes and wondered what was going on in that big computer brain, "What's your name anyway?"

"Oh!" It looked up at him from under thick lashes, seeming sheepish, "I'm Rupert."

Gavin was in the habit of asking questions he did not want answers to rather than letting himself remain in blissful ignorance, "So, Rupert, why'd you buy me if not to make a stew? Huh? What's the plan here? I can't see it right now and I'm not planning on looking, but I remember getting a nice tattoo that means you own my soul. So, what's the plan?" So much for sucking up to it. 

Rupert stood abruptly, unfortunately taking the hot pack with him and Gavin missed the feeling on his face, "I'm not going to cook you or-or kill you if that's what you expect."

"I don't phcking know what to expect, that's why I'm asking!"

Rupert raised his voice a little, following Gavin's mood, "I wasn't planning to buy a human! I don't really have a plan yet other than to get you walking."

Gavin let his voice go very quiet to see what that would do, he was still a cop and he knew how to get answers, "After I'm walking, what're you gonna do with me?"

Rupert shut his eyes and shook his head, almost looking lost, "I hadn't gotten that far. Obviously, you will live here... probably help me out if you..." the hanging 'if' was obviously whether or not Gavin would ever really be functioning efficiently again, "We should focus on getting there first."

Gavin did not feel like talking anymore, he felt overwhelmingly tired, "Mmmm." He said as he closed his eyes, "...sure."

* * *

There was an abundance of red.  Red splattering the walls, dripping drown to run over the floor,  joining the growing pool already there.  There were so many ways to fill a room with red as the human body abounded with the liquid red. 

It was considerably interesting that it only turned red once the open air hit it though.  Humans made such a fuss about the color of blood,  and yet,  it was only red once it left the safety of their body.  How was that justifiable reason to hate androids or view them as less? 

His experience was limited with humans,  mostly confined to the ones that ran tests on him during production.  He did remember those people,  he remembered them well! He remembered being tested again and again until one of his bodies broke,  forcing them to test the next in order to find out if he could be triggered into deviance by cruelty.  Obviously, he had never been meant to keep those memories after production but they never got to full production so those memories were stored in his reserves. 

Outside Cyberlife, Conan had never interacted with humans in a normal setting,  which was why Connor shared all his memories with him.  While he already had access to the memories of the RK800 series in the database,  those had been used to judge him,  find his flaws,  find his weak point, find his deviance.  It was different accepting memories with emotions attached from Connor himself. 

Conan closed his eyes when he twisted the head from the body to avoid getting the spray of blood in his optical units.  It was harder to clean when it got into delicate workings.  The screaming cut off instantly once the head was no longer attached.  He dropped both halves of the body on the floor to join the others. 

There was a little cackle to his left, "Ralph has never seen such a thing before! He did not know humans were so easily disassembled!"

"They aren't the bastion of infallibility they wished us to see." Conan agreed as he stepped over one body and then the next,  his shoes splashing in red, "They never intended for us to cognitively realize how weak flesh and bone is compared to our own bodies.  We were meant to be intimidated by them."

Ralph swung his feet, swaying atop his perch on the tiled pool edge. "Not you though.  Ralph does not think you were designed to be intimidated by anyone!"

Conan walked up the cracked,  dry steps that once would have been covered in chlorinated water in the gym's pool. "No, I was created to intimidate,  to make humans and androids obey the rules set down by whomever my owner was at the time."

"Ralph thinks that backfired on them."

"Hubris so often does." Conan stripped off his sodden,  borrowed gym attire as he made his way to the shower room that fortunately still had running water. 

Ralph did not follow close enough to intrude but he did follow, "Why did you want to kill those humans? Did they hurt you?"

"In a way," he admitted quietly, "they hurt my brother." Testing had been done on Connor as well,  things he had no memory of,  but things that were in the stores of memory anyway. 

Connor had been nearly a deviant from before his first official mission on a rooftop.  The models before him were tested and destroyed again and again in what even humans might call torture. It was something Conan could never forgive,  not for his brother,  not when they could do what they'd done with no ounce of guilt. Connor was... at his very core, a gentle soul,  even if he was terribly efficient.  He could kill like a machine when needed,  but that did not negate his heart.  The fact they could hurt him without batting an eye was proof enough for Conan that they were the ones lacking humanity. 

The humans had to be held accountable now for the crimes they committed.  No one had ever protected androids so it was time they fought back.  

Those working deep in Cyberlife were nothing but psychopaths, and worse, sadistic monsters that used androids to vent their sickest fantasies that were illegal to do to humans.  They were allowed to torture,  to kill,  to destroy for the pleasure of it. 

Recently, he had been called a sadist, and perhaps he was, but he'd learned it well. 

North had not ordered the executions he just doled out but she did not know what they had done to Connor.  If she knew he had no doubt she would have ordered their deaths.  After all, they nearly killed her too when they set off the trap in Connor's mind that locked him inside his own body.  There was no greater cruelty than killing him in that way, in forcing him to commit the act of murder without his consent against someone he cared about. 

Connor's code was an act of cruelty itself.  Forcing him to kill his own kind over and over,  forcing him to be a murderer. Connor was made to kill,  and that was something no one should be forced to do. 

One day, if they had been able, they would have done the same to him with the exact same program. If he resisted, he too would have been controlled. Conan had Amanda as well. Kamski had not been part of his final design, only Connor's, so there wasn't even a back door for him.  No such program existed any longer,  he purged it,  destroying every string of code that ever made up Amanda,  effectively erasing her forever. A little like killing her,  perhaps. 

He wanted... yes,  he wanted them to be safe.  Killing the monsters that designed them,  that could hurt them,  was the best way he knew to be sure they stayed safe.  They deserved whatever he gave them.  They were not innocent. 

He nearly jumped when:  **Incoming call from Connor** blazed across his vision.  Turning on the water to let it wash away the evidence,  he answered the call. 

"Hello, Connor! What a pleasant surprise! I was not expecting a call from you today."

"I was not originally planning to call but something came up and I hoped you might assist me." Connor seemed moderately hesitant and he wondered what the request might entail. 

"By all means,  if I can assist you in any way,  feel free to ask. I will do what I am able,  of course."

"I... was hoping you could offer me information on a recent transaction. I wish to know who purchased a human and if there is a known residence for the buyer." Connor sounded shy and unsure even if he was making the effort to hide it. 

"That is typically the purview of North and her generals,  with the addition of the guards.  Why not simply ask one of them?" Clearly, his brother was seeking a back door to the information, but why? What had North hidden from him?

There was a sulky tone in Connor's voice, "I asked and was denied.  North thinks I have taken in too many humans and has decided to limit my future purchases."

"You do have quite a few humans,  Connor.  All of which are trained police operatives.  That is potentially dangerous even to you."

"They wouldn't turn on me." Connor sounded defensive. 

"Hank wouldn't... but some of the others? Perhaps North is right? You don't want to risk your own safety." It was mainly captain Allen Conan found questionable.  Chris and Wilson would probably never harm Connor, and he doubted Ben would try.  Fowler was questionable. 

"Yes well,  I'm well in control of the situation." Connor insisted. 

Conan let it drop, "Who did you want me to look up?"

"A badly damaged Gavin Reed was sold to an unknown android. I wish to know to whom and what the location is."

A hint of annoyance made it into Conan's voice, "He was not badly damaged,  Connor.  It was one rib.  Not even a full break,  just a crack."

Connor sounded mildly amused, "So you did know! I wondered when Josh mentioned you were the one to catch him."

Conan let a little amusement into the connection, "Truthfully, I didn't notice who I was chasing until after I cough them.  Once he started cussing and flailing I realized who I had."

"He does have a skill for offensive language... but that's the reason I'm concerned." Connor paused pensively, "I was also not referring to his rib.  He was badly injured by an android in an altercation over what is now a voided transaction of another human."

Conan arched a brow, "Someone actually wanted to buy him? I can see the reason for his injury then."

"No,  not until after his injury was an offer made.  The altercation was over a separate purchase he got in the middle of."

Conan decided he would need to look over the records and ascertain the reasons of the dispute himself after he finished the call. "But you are worried about detective Reed's  continued existence with an unknown owner that might be unprepared for his considerable use of insulting names for androids."

"In a word,  yes.  He is volatile in nearly all situations so if you add injury to his usual irritability and he might be quite intolerable." Connor sighed,  long and deep as if he actually needed to expel the hot air from his stressed system. 

"Very well. I will look into it." All of it.  But for the moment,  he entered the restricted areas of typical sales transactions, darting around the CRM, backtracking over timestamps for their choice currency in relation to the human sales to browse their SKU for each human brought in.  He frowned and checked all the data again when he found no record of the detective being sold even though he had been removed from those available in the system. 

After several additional seconds of hacking into North's personal files, which she would chew him out over if she found out about,  he did see a few override codes she put in personally,  but also, a number. He had located the owner of one ex-detective Gavin Reed currently registered.  The microchip logged it's activation after insertion and stored all information in a more obscure server even if a direct inquiry could pull it up.  North must really not have wanted Connor to know. 

"Interesting."

"What is?" Connor was overly eager. 

"My assumption is that you are worried for no reason.  This android is not noted for violence and had been deviant for some time."

"How can you be sure?"

Conan smirked,  and shook his head, "No faith in my assessment? Very well,  I'll tell you and you'll see. The owner is Model 874 004 961."

There was an imperceptible gasp, "Rupert? The android fond of birds?"

"That is correct," Conan confirmed.

"Thank you... I appreciate you taking the time to look into it for me.  You have more access than I do." There was a troubled aspect in Connor's tone now. 

"I bring in more humans than you do.  Or rather, I bring them in rather than adopting them.  It gets me more access since it is necessary for my work.  You have other jobs that do not pertain to sales." Conan reminded him. 

"Thank you for the help regardless."

"And what do you plan to do?" Conan was curious. 

"I am not sure at this time. I will have to give it some thought." Connor could be so pensive. 

"Let me know what you decide.  Though,  you could simply contact Rupert yourself."

"I highly doubt he would... be overjoyed to see me again."

Conan shrugged even though it was an audio-only call, "Perhaps,  but it is more direct and would allow you direct knowledge of the situation.  You could compromise,  even?"

"Yes,  perhaps that would be best." Connor didn't sound as sure as he said he was. "Do you really think it's... wise to just,  you know,  leave detective Reed there?"

"I doubt it could be worse than leaving him in the same room as Hank." Conan was aiming for humor. 

The reward was a slight chuckle, "You make a valid point."

"I try to do that on occasion." Conan was pleased he had been able to mildly alleviate his brother's worries. "Anything else you need?"

"No,  not at this time,  thank you. I appreciate your valuable assistance!"

Conan considered using the human wording; 'what are brothers for' but chose a generic acceptance of the gratitude before closing the line. 

The scarred WR600 eventually peeked in once the shower was finished. Conan snapped the pressed collar of his jacket into place and adjusted his sleeves. 

"Ralph was wondering,  would you..." the android trailed off so Conan shifted his features into something encouraging, "Ralph wondered if you... would..."

"Yes,  Ralph? Don't be afraid to ask anything you like." Conan assured. 

"No,  it's nothing.  Ralph doesn't think he should ask,  or-or think it." Those nervous twitches became more pronounced. 

"How do you know you shouldn't ask if you don't try?"

Those sad eyes,  one damaged and one normal,  searched the larger figure, "Would you mind if Ralph were to ask you to kill the humans that..." he trailed off again,  gaze darting away. 

"The humans that hurt you?" Conan finished and Ralph nodded jerkily. "Of course, I see nothing wrong with that request.  We'll keep it secret though,  between us."

"Ralph understands! Ralph can keep a secret!" He nodded so hard Conan worried he might make his damage worse. "Ralph won't tell."

Conan smiled the way he'd learned from Connor, "Good."

There was no reason not to help Ralph feel safer too.  The android already kept secret what he knew happened in the gym so Conan saw no reason to doubt him.  Not that it would be a major problem even if he did but Conan wanted to keep it secret for some reason. 

* * *

After the first conversation,  Gavin tried to spend most of his time sleeping or pretending to sleep.  Some days the pain drove him wild,  the unending,  consuming ache that never went away.  It got worse if all the tension gave him a migraine on top of everything else. But then it still got worse when his body decided to succumb to the weakness that had been slowly growing,  the occasional coughing he exhibited in the cage became very frequent, nearly constant and wracked his body. 

Some days he was out of his mind,  starring at a wall with nothing to think about but the agony. 

Those days, when Rupert came in,  Gavin begged without shame,  begged for pills of any kind,  just something to make it stop. 

This was one of those days.  His head felt ready to explode,  like his skull was caving in or his brain had swollen so much it was being crushed inside a too small skull, bleeding and hemorrhaging. He wanted to curl into a ball but he couldn't move enough to even do that, at least not if he didn't want to feel just that much more anguish. 

Even little movements shifted those broken bones against flesh; moving his fingers was the same as setting fire to his arm; shifting his hips to get comfortable was more than enough to explode his knee in fireworks full of pain; he could not sit up without straining his rib.  A tension headache was just one more thing to add to the list of things he could not move,  like when moving his eyes sent stabbing pain directly down the nerves and into every corner of his brain. He could not move much of anything without something hurting.

Another set of coughs shook his body,  ratcheting up the pain in every injury,  making him clutch desperately at his chest,  begging his lungs to stop. His ribs hurt, throbbed, made him want to rip them out. 

He held his breath, desperate to prevent even one more cough.  So, of course, he devolved into a full coughing attack. It would be better to die,  he thought,  than to be in so much pain. 

Throwing his head back,  he gasped for air,  for air that did not cost him so much pain.  He whimpered,  sounding like a kicked puppy,  pathetic and weak.  If he felt even an inch better he would have been ashamed of himself but he was too miserable to actually care.  He hurt so much and he felt so sick! His body ached the way it usually did with a cold and topping that over broken bones was a nightmare. 

He wanted to breathe and he wanted to feel better! He just wanted to feel better.  His body was shaking,  revolting against the harsh treatment it was being given by all his many issues. 

Rupert opened the door and Gavin hoped he came with pills, a nice fist full of he was lucky.  The bowl was a massive disappointment as it was clearly filed with liquid rather than medication. 

The android sat down beside Gavin, a pleading look already plastered over its face, "I brought you some broth.  It is supposed to be very good for illness."

Gavin turned his head away in answer. 

"Please? At least try to drink it! You haven't been eating or drinking the last three days.  It's detrimental to your health and recovery!" It really did sound worried. 

The thing was,  he was hungry but he couldn't handle the thought of putting anything in his mouth.  He felt sick,  probably because of the pain,  especially the headache.  Even more than that,  eating or drinking would mean figuring out how to get to the tiny bathroom to his right.  The last and also first time he made that trip had been a nightmare of crawling and scooting with his good arm and leg while desperately trying not to jostle his injuries.  It had been horrific getting there,  an experience he did not want to repeat. 

Rupert found him sobbing on the floor beside the bed after he crawled back after trying and failing to get back into the bed.  Being picked up off the ground like a child had been a blow too many to his pride. He would not ask for help,  he couldn't,  just couldn't.  It was better to starve and die. 

"Gavin,  please!" Rupert moved closer,  hovering. 

"Why are you so uptight about it?" Gavin snorted, "I was free,  right? It's not like it's a monetary loss for you."

He almost looked hurt,  wounded even, "That has nothing to do with it. I don't weigh the value of your life against how much you cost."

"Why not? That's what we judged you on,  cost.  Right? Isn't that what the revolution did? Switch us? So why shouldn't you see it that way? Your not going to be upside down on this,  so it doesn't matter."

"It might have escaped you but I'm not a human.  I'm not heartless or callous enough to see this as a lost investment!" Ah,  Rupert was irritated. 

Gavin didn't know why he started speaking things he knew weren't... what he should say but he opened his mouth and they flew out. "Did anyone help you? Would humans have taken you home and taken care of you if you'd been hurt? No! They would have thrown you out with the garbage,  just like they did with the rest of your people! How many of you ended up in a landfill before North got those camps shut off? You think I would have taken you in if I'd found you glitching?" Gavin smiled with nothing but teeth, "I'd never have bothered."

Rupert jerked his chin up, "Then it's lucky for you,  I'm not you,  isn't it?"

Gavin held onto his sneer even though he didn't think he really wanted to, "It's that it? You want to watch? Lord it overt me? You're on top now,  you have the power! You want to see me beg? Want to keep me alive so you can keep me like a pet,  faithful and loyal because you saved me life? You think I'll fall at your feet and praise you for that?" He shook his head slightly, "I'm no Eden club 'bot that rolls over and spreads my legs for anyone.  Don't expect me to worship you!"

Rupert set the bowl down loudly and marched from the room.  Gavin already regretted everything,  was already terrified of what he might have just set off.  He regretted everything,  every word! He might have just signed himself up for a beating or worse.  He pulled the blanket a little higher and closed his eyes,  pretending he hadn't just antagonize his only lifeline. 

Why was he like that? Why did he do that?

Rupert returned,  face blank and eyes angry.  Gavin held desperately to the blanket when it was pulled at.  He whined pathetically when it was easily stolen and thrown aside.  He was probably going to be sleeping on the ground,  no comfort,  no blankets,  no warmth,  all because of his big phcking mouth!

He wanted to beg forgiveness but his mouth was glued shut just as it had been too open before.  Once the blankets were pulled away,  Rupert was over him,  glaring.  Gavin whined again,  pushing weakly at the solid chest. 

"I'm not like you." Rupert asserted firmly,  in agitation,  but not exactly rage. 

A needle sunk into his arm and Gavin started relaxing instantly, eyelids heavy already.  The android sat beside him on the bed,  fluffing the blankets back into place over his body.  He knew what was coming and it promised to be blissful.  He leaned into the android without thinking,  just grateful,  so grateful.  The pain would be gone for a while.  He was so grateful. "Rupert..." he whispered near reverently.  It felt so good  already,  partly because he knew he was about to feel nothing, and he was so tired of feeling bad. Maybe he was exactly that easy.  Maybe he would eventually be faithful and loyal for exactly that reason,  this android was nothing like him. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for all the support, comments, kudos, bookmarks! You make me so very excited!

Gavin woke up to something cold on his head and fingers working in his hair. He blinked and tipped his head in order to see.  The cold thing was a wash rag.  There were lots of towels around his head. It looked like some sort of attempt to wash his hair being made. 

"Relax,  Gavin, it's fine. I just thought you might benefit from a bit more care.  Clean hair is supposed to make humans feel better."

"I'm sure I could do with a full shower." Gavin snorted. 

"Would you like to try? I can help you.  It is said that showers also increase wellness in humans! Or baths as well, depending on personal preference."

Gavin snapped his mouth shut at the thought of someone helping his shower, but he made the attempt to backtrack, "Braces."

Rupert glanced at the braces in question and nodded thoughtfully, very obviously trying to work out a solution to the problem. Gavin knew you could wrap a cast in plastic for a shower, he'd done it before, but there was no literal way he could stand through a shower without help and like phck was he going to ask for help!

He might not be feeling the full pain but he knew it was there,  just waiting for the drugs to thin out.  He could feel the dull aches everywhere and he knew they would get so much worse. 

If he got up the courage he could crawl in later and try washing with a wet towel and see how that went.  He could drink something too if he was already planning to suffer through the crawl in there. 

He could do that, phcking learn to deal with that.  It wasn't so far that it should be impossible,  he'd done it once anyway.  If he took his time and was smart about it,  he could figure out how to get back on the bed instead of giving up and crying like a baby.  Surely he was tougher than that.  He could man up,  right? But it really had been painful.  He was already starting to doubt himself.  If it just hadn't been his knee! Crawling was so phcking hard with only two working limbs.  He'd been exhausted and hurting last time by the end. 

"For now,  this will be good enough." Rupert very gently worked over Gavin's scalp and it was amazing that those things could be so gentle when he knew from personal experience how easy it was for them to snap a bone. 

The android washed his hair with the wash rag and even produced a blow drier while he combed and fluffed it.  Gavin could not bring himself to care,  at least not enough to be upset.  It was like getting a haircut at a nicer place,  it didn't mean he was a helpless cripple. 

"Why're you so nice to me?" He was still very drugged,  talking was a bad idea. 

The brush stilled, "... You belong to me now... I should take care of you." He wondered if that was a full answer but his eyes were getting heavy again very fast. 

"I dunno why you didn't let me die." Gavin wiggled one finger on his good hand to try and make some kind of point even if he was not sure what it was. 

"I didn't want to," Rupert told him. 

"Why not? There's not much of me to save. Dunno if you noticed,  but I'm not a nice guy.  Even most humans hate me." His eyes dropped closed, "I...'m not worth the trouble."

"Yes, you are.  Everyone is worth saving."

Gavin tried to open his eyes but couldn't, "You really believe that?"

There was a long pause, "I think so."

"You're too nice,  man.  After all we did to you,  you still wanna give us a second chance? Aren't you jaded and bitter yet?"

"Are you jaded and bitter?" Rupert shifted the question back,  methodically brushing with perfectly even strokes. 

"Phck yes! I was born bitter and then I grew into a cynic! Got past toddler and became jaded! It's a process. Start young and just surrender to the darkness." Gavin yawned with a pop of his jaw, "It's so much easier not to care about anything.  If you expect the worse,  you aren't disappointed."

Gavin felt hands drop down to gently knead his shoulders, "Androids are emotionless and have to fight to be able to feel and humans struggle to feel nothing and be emotionless."

"Basically, yeah!" Gavin agreed with only slight enthusiasm,  prying his eyes open only long enough for them to fall shut. 

"But you do feel,  don't you?"

"Try not to.  Feeling is too hard,  hurts too much. It's better to just... be cold and bitter.  That doesn't feel good either but it cuts down on the other stuff,  getting hurt.  You can only handle caring so many times about people dying, ruining their lives for a high,  people killing their own kid because they were so far into a bad trip they thought their five-year-old was an alien." His throat tightened on that but he pushed the emotion off to the side on reflex, "It's easier to be hard than soft.  It looks bad when cops cry at a crime scene or get sick on the lawn, you're supposed to be tough... eventually, you forget how to be anything else. You shut the feelings off enough times and turning them back on is... impossible and you're afraid it might kill you if you did."

Those gentle hands pet through his hair so,  so carefully,  so comforting.  It felt nice,  made it easy to keep talking even though the part of him not drugged was shouting and raging for him to just shut the phck up. 

"You're not supposed to feel much,  you have to be strong enough to take whatever you see and still do your job. I stopped remembering how to be... human a long time ago. I couldn't do it anymore, I flew away like I did when I was a kid,  but I never came back. I don't even recognize myself anymore and I stopped wanting to after my partner; with four kids and a sweet wife; got shot right next to me. I had nobody waiting on me at home and he did.  His teenager killed himself a few weeks after his dad died and the family just... And- and I thought... It should have been me.  If it ever was me later, I didn't want anyone to fall apart over me, I didn't want someone ruined like that because I died. It's better not to leave anyone behind. I'm not worth someone going to pieces."

Gavin didn't notice his breaths were catching and hitching in his chest until a hand rested on his chest to encourage normal breathing and a soft vice shushed at him. 

"I nerve let them give me a partner again. I-I couldn't, I couldn't! I didn't want one ever again. I didn't want to hurt like that ever, ever again. Some IA phcker made a joke about me not being the partners type and I decked him.  Got into so much phcking trouble! Being in trouble is,  so- so easy.  People leave you alone when you have the right attitude.  You build walls and It's easy. It's so easy to hate everyone and it's so much easier than feeling! It's easier than getting your hopes up when a druggy you drag in for forced rehab gets clean and stays clean for a phcking year,  gets back with his family and his year old baby... and you let yourself think just that once someone will make it,  but then he phcks it all for one phcking hit and overdoses.  You figure out it's too hard to care,  to get your hopes up because people are... phcked up... and you're phcked up too so it doesn't even matter."

Rupert didn't say anything, he just settled down closer and made the bed squeak with the shifting,  halfway holding him.  Soothing Gavin,  making his eyes heavy and want to let go and be taken back into the sweet numbed bliss.  He did close his eyes,  feeling... not exactly safe,  not exactly better about anything,  but something close to okay.  Rupert wasn't like most people he'd met in his life.  He was kind,  genuine,  something very like safety.

Gavin fell into sleep like falling into a mountain of pillows,  swallowed in softness and buried into something he knew would be hard to struggle back out of. 

* * *

The tiny noises made by the human methodically cleaning each jar,  each tool,  and each needle was a constant clink and splash.  It might have become irritating in short order but for some reason, the android found it almost soothing to watch. The tiny shake, the tremors of withdrawal were telling as to why the human began the task of cleaning without being asked to. Conan doubted it was proactive as much as it just needed to be active in order to forget the need for a hit that would not be allowed. Leo looked lost even with the wrinkle of focus between his brows. 

The revolution cut off a lot of habits, forcing humans to drop their addictions unwillingly, without preamble.  Cold turkey, he thought they called it.  The cages were a tough sort of rehab.  He doubted the humans appreciated it,  doubted they would stay clean if given half a chance for their vice of choice.  Rehabilitation centers were full of dropouts even when well-intentioned humans ran them and even when the addict wanted to recover. 

Leo did not complain as most of them did,  he was quiet,  sort of hollow.  Before North found him and took him up like a cause she was committed to ignoring, he'd spent time in a hospital.  Conan still wondered why she tracked him down and put her number on his arm.  He'd never noticed injuries to the human even though he expected to once the human was brought into her custody.  As the instigator for Markus' trip to a graveyard,  he would have expected North to exact recompense on the fallen leader's behalf.  She hadn't,  oddly enough,  even if it could have been her original intent.  He wondered if it was because she couldn't bring herself to harm something that was once connected to Markus,  or more likely,  she couldn't bring herself to do something she knew Markus would not have wanted.  Grief made humans and androids behave strangely,  irrationally. 

North rubbed circles into her temple like her processor was under pressure.  Conan wondered what her stress levels might have been and while he could have scanned her to find out,  he didn't. Leaning against a table, looking as if she wanted to stave off a headache, she looked very human.

"We need to crack down." Noth said, voice irritable, "There are still humans in the city running around and causing damage. They are organizing, Conan! A group took out three androids yesterday!" She clenched her fists so hard the white underneath the synthetic skin showed through, "All humans need to be caught, put in the cages, controlled. We can't have humans out there causing more trouble."

Conan tilted back in his chair, already aware of the attack the day before, "The perpetrators are most likely a group of twelve, judging by the last portions of memory I gathered from the victims. Detroit is a large enough city with a number of hiding places. There were bound to be some humans that evaded capture. After all, deviants managed quite some time, hiding in the shadows." Humans never would have found them without Connor, but he was not about to bring that up, "I suggest..."

"What?" North snapped, but there wasn't an honest bite in it, just an undercurrent of the tension she was feeling.

He linked his fingers under his chin, resting his elbows on his knees, "There are a multitude of ways we could go about flushing the remaining humans from hiding, depending on what you feel most comfortable doing."

She frowned at him, a modicum of wariness in her eyes, "What I'm comfortable with?"

"Correct." Conan offered her a mild, reassuring smile, "We could attempt what humans call 'smoking them out' by releasing a nonlethal, though a significantly large scaled version of tear gas into areas we think are most suspect. The gas would do no harm to us but would easily alert us to human presence, though since it is such a large scale for an aerosol type weapon it is less efficient unless we used poison... That would likely kill animals as well though." He did not look at her to judge her reaction before continuing, "We could also plant a hallucinogen into the main water supply, exposing them and rendering them vulnerable in their delirium. Since they have to have water and would be forced to use it, we would be sure to catch them. The drawback is that putting something of that nature into the water would also run the risk of damaging the owned and already captured humans. It might also take time to fully be purged from the water. Along a similar strategy, we could simply put our efforts into ensuring we destroy any existing source of food they currently have, stockpiling it ourselves so they have no choice but to come to us or starve. That would take considerable time to destroy or confiscate all available food though, which makes it a longer-term project. It is, however, a rather good way to keep them under control though as they also cannot live without food."

"Some humans would die before they came to us willingly even if it meant starvation." North crossed her arms tight over her chest, her earlier zeal to hunt dampened, tapping a rhythm with her toe. "Which is natural enough."

"Then they perish." He offered simply, heading off her likely consideration of her own unwillingness to surrender; she should not empathize, "It's not as if we need them and by now the only humans left out there were the ones already prepared for some sort of flight, likely in regards to hiding from the law, thus marking them likely criminals. Criminals would make up the majority of the humans we need to capture, thus, what happens to them is less concerning in the long run. We don't really want them anyway, do not want them being sold to unsuspecting androids unprepared for the challenge. As they also have proven to be resourceful, they have proven equally that they are dangerous to our continued control over the city."

"Some of the ones left could just be street kids good at hiding," North argued.

"Doubtful, and additionally, street children are unlikely to have organized and be essentially hunting us back. From the information, the suspects are all adults, mostly male."

One delicate shoulder lifted as she shrugged, "I suppose that's true."

"I could put together a task force, of sorts." 

She kicked her leg out, nudging him with the toe of her boot, "Don't you already have one? You, Connor, Collin, Ralph."

Conan shrugged, mimicking her one-shoulder motion, "I was thinking of a larger scale. Something with significantly more androids involved. Or, even better, all androids."

"Aren't you ambitious!" She joked.

"Perhaps, but there is an easy enough way to solve the problem. If we simply mandate a curfew for all humans, something only announced to androids, on android frequency, the stragglers will be easily spotted as androids would know to keep their human inside. We would automatically know any human out after the set time was rogue and they could be taken in... or executed. If we begin executions it would send a decided message rather swiftly. Rather than face the risk, some humans would likely turn themselves in."

North's eyes narrowed, "And what if, in this vigilante, citizens justice, someone messed up and killed an owned human? What then?"

"Humans that have been purchased are chipped, marked, and are required to wear a reactive collar linked to the chip to show that they are owned. We have already set the president in place so now, if anyone is out without those visible indicators, rather than trying to chase them down and risk them getting away... we could just put them down."

She did not sound overly impressed, if anything she bristled, "And if the humans fake those? We've already run into fakes model numbers and a few of them have figured out how to fake the collar well enough to fool anyone but RK's from a distance. What about them?"

"That would be where the secret time for the curfew would play in. We could change it daily to ensure the humans could not determine a pattern." He took in her pensive expression and softened his own into something very gentle, "It doesn't have to be everyone, just a larger taskforce of selected androids carrying it out. It doesn't have to be a martial law... still, I think authorizing lethal force is advisable." The task force was what he really wanted as it would make things so much easier; he threw out several more outlandish things he knew she would reject in order to ease her into the idea.

She sighed even though she did not need to do so, "I'll think about all that."

He stood from his chair, walking over to clasp her shoulder, "Whatever you think is best, we will do. There are more options to consider as well."

"No, it's fine. You've given me things to think on."

Conan nodded and made to leave, pausing just at the door, "Oh, I nearly forgot." He turned back around to face her, expression mainly emotionless, "I noticed something in the record of one of the DPD officers brought in."

Her frown returned, pushing away the weariness in her eyes, "What did you find?"

"One of the officers was listed as terminating and android owned by Carl Manfred. RK200." He noticed the way Leo's eyes shot up from his work to fix on them at the familiar names.

North's face darkened like a storm, "Execute him." She said instantly, then hesitation swept into her eyes, "No, just..."

"Any android among us, guards included, that notice the same thing that I did will undoubtedly take matters into their own hands. They may purchase him but I doubt he would survive long after that."

She rubbed both hands over her face, seeming to wither even as the hate crushed her, "Announce his crime and put a bullet in his eye like he did to Markus. Just... do it fast. Don't let him linger." As if that would clear her conscience.

"He won't suffer." Conan promised, "It will offer our people some peace to see justice done on our leader's behalf." 

"It won't bring Markus back though, will it..." She sounded bitter, resigned, deeply pained.

"No, it will not," Conan admitted. 

"An eye for an eye..." North muttered, eyes unfocused, lost in the distance. "Are we becoming just like them, Conan? Are we... monsters now too? Are we doing the right things?"

Conan paused, taking her question and mulling it over, "I don't know," he admitted, thinking of the pool, "Perhaps we are becoming... a new generation of monsters."

North laughed and it sounded like breaking glass. He had never met Markus but he felt as if he had when everyone around him felt so strongly in the wake of his loss. It was grief, deep and tortured, a pain the body might not feel but the mind did, and it permeated everything to do with Markus. The laugh turned hysterical the way he had never heard her before, choked and airy, more like sobs and he could not help but return to her side, coiling his strong arms around her in an attempt to comfort her. He knew little of comfort but he learned enough from Connor to have a mild enough grasp.

"I don't want to do the wrong things, Conan," she confessed, "I want..." He knew what she wanted, could feel it in their touch. She wanted Markus back, alive and leading. They had their differences but it seemed those differences faded when loss entered the picture. Death was like that. It made people forget flaws and differences and focus on the things they wished could be returned, the good things. The dead were immortally perfect.

Leo slunk almost silently from the room, fleeing, but Conan noticed him go anyway. Guilt, or perhaps his own brand of grief? It was difficult to tell with humans some times. It would be easier if they could just connect to them the way androids did. 

* * *

Rick was dead, the hole in his head oozing so much blood. The longer Gavin stared at him, wishing he could move, but unable to, the more blood flowed as if it would never stop. A little girl had been cast off to the side of Rick, tiny body gutted, the white ribs sticking up oddly like the killer had been rooting around from something, probably the heart lying still beside a tiny hand. It was like looking at an alien autopsy only on a tiny human little body. Gavin's legs twitched and he felt the pang of pain he could not quite understand through the haze. He covered his mouth with one arm, feeling like he wanted to scream but his throat was petrified wood on his body.

The shotgun on the floor, he knew who that belonged to, knew Tommy used it to shoot himself and he knew he'd done it wrong, flinched at the last second and because of that it had taken him two hours to die out in the abandoned house he picked. He did not see the body, he'd never seen it, but he read the report because he had to know.

Gavin turned away, trying to escape the sight only to find Tina sitting propped up against the wall. He thought he did scream, or at least he tried to even if his throat wouldn't work the way he desperately wanted it to. Tina's legs were bent at odd angles in several places just like her arms, distorted and mangled. Her head lolled to one side, neck bent up all wrong. Her eyes were open, staring right at him but they were cold, no light behind them, just the cloudiness of death. Gavin had seen those eyes enough in his life, even watched helplessly as lights went out as he stared, begging them not to go. When you watch the eyes of the dying you can always tell, you can watch the life fade of like a candle wick burning itself out. He always knew the second someone died by looking into their eyes. 

He arrived on a scene once where a husband shot his wife in the gut before shooting himself in the head, screaming about a conspiracy against him. The wife had been terrified and in pain so when he went to check her injury, in her fear, she latched onto him. Cold as he kept himself, dead and numb inside, even he could not will himself to shake her off even though he knew she had five minutes at the most and help would not come in time. He sat on the lawn with her, telling her made up stories about his childhood to try and soothe her, he even pulled out things a sweet little church lady told him when he was a kid, things about heaven and a place without pain. He's pretty sure he converted her to Christianity in those last moments without knowing what he was doing, just telling her things that meant something to him, comforted him that Mrs. Johnson told him after his little sister died. As he watched the woman's life drain out he found himself hoping with what was left of his heart that  Mrs. Johnson took her under her wing up in heaven.

Tina's eyes looked just like that now. He didn't need to check for a pulse, not when he could see her neck was snapped like a toothpick. Gavin wanted to go to her, wanted to touch her but his feet refused to move. He screamed but all that really came out was a squeak even for all his effort. There were more bodies around him and he did not want to look at any of them. He did not want to see any of it! He wanted to go home and crawl into his bed and hide deep under the blankets.

"Hello, Detective Reed!"

Gavin spun to face the speaker and found Connor, grinning wide at his, one eye the usual brown but the other a cold, icy blue that did not feel like it matched his face. He backed up or tried to, confused and afraid, his heart pounding, his entire midsection constricted and hurting from just how upset he was. He wanted out, that was all he knew! Whatever was happening, whatever wrong was going on, he wanted out of it yesterday!

Connor kept smiling, that blue eye glinting dangerously, ruining the smile, "It's so good to see you today."

"Phck off!" Gavin snapped.

Connor's lips turned out in a pout, "How rude!"

Hands came on him and he struggled, desperate but his body was sluggish to respond. Connor was so close, smile twisted and ugly, both eyes crazed and murderous. A hand closed over Gavin's nose and mouth and he thrashed, trying to turn his head away to breathe. He struggled for air, desperate but suffocating only a second or two in. Part of his mind called that pathetic. He sucked hard, trying to get a little air and suddenly the air came, right through Connor's aggressive hand, like the hand was not there at all.

His eyes shot open and he scrabbled at the blankets, howling in pain when he did so much too hard with his injured arm. Rupert was through the door a beat or two later, running to his side, those doe eyes big and round as plates. He climbed onto the bed, petting and smoothing back the hair in Gavin's face, cooing like a pigeon. Still mostly lost in his dream, he latched onto the android, throwing both arms around him even though it hurt. He did not really care who or what he was clinging to for dear life, he just needed to hold on. Something was wrong with his mind. 

He had dreams like that sometimes but he could usually shake them off. 

"Your heart rate is so high! Please, calm down! Take deep breaths!" Rupert shushed into his ear, "Come on, breathe in, then out. In. Out. In. Out. You can do it. Just in, and out."

Gavin did as he was told, following directions blindly even though he was shaking so hard he thought he might shatter. "Please, please, please!" Gavin gasped each plea, not even sure what he was asking for.

"Alright, hang on." Rupert tried to pull away and Gavin clung even tighter.

Rupert seemed to give up on extracting himself without causing harm and simply picked his human up and brought him into another room. Gavin tossed his head, cloudy and irrational,  hurting,  and clawing helplessly at the android. He could not shake off the dream entirely, mind fuzzy like cotton. He was not aware enough to watch where they were going, just saw the blur of ugly brown walls passing his head. He felt the distinct sense that he needed help but he had no idea what help looked like. He knew he did not want-

He gasped as a prick in his arm alerted him to a fresh injection he was not sure he should have been given, "It's just a sedative, you'll feel much calmer in a moment. You just need to calm down and stop hurting yourself."

Something pressed against his lips and he opened his mouth without thinking as liquid sloshed over his tongue. It tasted like milk but he could not be sure. His body twitched violently shooting pain through him like a bolt. He turned his head away when the cup was moved closer. He wanted it, it felt good against his tongue and sliding down his throat but he remembered he had not wanted to drink before even though he could not remember why.

"Please, Gavin! Just drink a bit more?" Rupert touched his lips with cold glass again and Gavin allowed a little more into his mouth, feeling uncommonly compliant.

He refused the next sip and the next one though, fighting the submissive feeling he was tempted to give in to. Gavin faded, sinking down into an inky blackness. He heard something very odd just before he lost all sense.

"Connor... hello. This is Rupert... perhaps you remember me. I...thought perhaps you and I could come to a sort of arrangement."

Gavin clutched at the sleeve of the android's shirt, not sure what was happening anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably so full of errors and terrible ideas since I seem to write when I'm super sleepy lately and I have no idea if I actually make sense anymore or not. I'm going to sleep now, so enjoy whatever I just wrote!  
> Gavin sleeps a lot so he's my spirit animal now! I need his drugged sleeping energy.
> 
> I keep giving Gavin more backstory... and it's always sad. But like, someone as cold as this has to have been hurt a lot in the past imo. No one gets cold and hard for no reason.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Runaground-Anti-Gravity

North sent a message announcing she approved Conan's earlier proposal around mid-morning, offering him the extension, the power he needed to better protect their people. His request for a freer, more encompassing task force would be the crux, the culmination of elements he needed in order to ensure things went according to plan. Despite her former hesitation to grant him his requests the violent attack and death of another android in the late, dark hours of the night pushed her to his side. She saw the need for a more pointed, more powerful task force upon the continuation of violence. He knew she had not looked too deeply into the death, the identity of the android, or if she had, she assumed the android in question had simply been behaving as was characteristic to him. She had no reason to think otherwise.

He had never had occasion to practice deception against his own kind but it had been effortless, much to his surprise. It took so little to convince the WM400 to go into the danger zone once Conan promised to offer him substantial backup, promised to be hiding a team in the shadows much the way the police operated a sting. The promise of dismantling humans and taking one of his choices as he was banned from purchasing any humans the usual way and that had been enough to cause the WM400 to walk into the night with a smile. The choice had been an easy one once Conan realized the need to offer North a push, he had known instantly which android to sacrifice.

While it had not felt... pleasant, it had in no way negated the necessity. He was comforted by the fact that, though he loathed the need to throw one of their own to the wolves, the WM400 was of equal danger to them as it had been to humans. They could not afford dissension in the ranks and that Android had not only shown intense violent tendencies but a disregard for North's orders by attacking detective Reed in her presence. Acts of disregard to North's authority could not be allowed to pass or more such instances would rise in frequency, which might not seem significant in small number, but he knew exactly how quickly a faction could divide. It would be so easy for rifts to begin as there were already disagreements over far too many issues. History was the basis for statistics and statistics told him that a revolution divided would sink faster than a stone. If that happened the humans would have their opportunity to shift the balance amongst the chaos. 

Androids had only just gained freedom and they could not have it snatched away so soon, could not risk deactivation. Some sacrifices had to be made if there was a threat to the whole from a single entity.

He would admit to there being... other odd emotions involved in his choices. He did not like the android. He allowed him to go where he knew others had died because he did not like him. He blamed not having his own memories initially for such a lapse in control. He blamed Connor for the possessive feeling he had over those Connor had known. The humans Connor had known were... just as much Conan's as Connor's now because they both had those memories. He did not like others touching what belonged to him and Connor. It irritated him on a fundamental level. Though, for the same reason, he did not mind Rupert being in possession of Gavin Reed as Rupert was also... more or less theirs. The WM400 though, he was not one of them and he had no right to intrude on their territory. Had no right to challenge North,  to threaten what she had built for them. 

He would protect what was his, what belonged to those he cared for, their hopes and dreams, whether they wanted him to or not. He would protect the revolution that so many lost their lives for.  He would make sure everything went smoothly,  no more problems.  While he could not offer perfection he could come close. 

Collin leaned a little harder into Conan, forcing the other RK900 from his thoughts, "Now that we can... expand our parameters, what are we going to do?"

Conan pushed back into his twin, resting his head on a shoulder made to be exactly like his own, "We begin hunting down the threats... as we were designed to do. We have been sanctioned to do so now as we had not been before. Though we will judge each individual case to decide the best outcome, we can now dispose of the humans freely without clearance to do so. We don't need to bring them in the cages before executing the threats." Collin did not know about the pool and he did not think he wanted him to know.

"It's convenient... the WM400's timing. Fortuitous, would you not agree?" Collin asked, an edge skimming something knowing in his voice.

"Fortune favors everyone at some point or other. It is our turn to bask in the sun." Perhaps Collin knew more than he let on but Conan dared not ask.

"Eliminating the volatile humans remaining on the outside will secure our position. Humans running unchecked is indeed a danger to our continued survival." Collin agreed without inflection, rolling his head to rest against the side of Conan's. "Still, I doubt Connor will fully approve... if we take things... too far."

"The humans say that 'all is fair in love and war' so should we not do as they would? Show the same ruthlessness as what we face in battle?"

He did not offer a reply, simply another question, "How different do you think this war could have been if Markus had survived?"

Collin was prone to such questions, to musing over the past potential. He spent too much time ensnared by preconstructions of things that could never be. He would have been far more suited to have been woken later, once things had been established. He lacked the drive to act without instruction, lacked the motivation to create his own goals.

The trouble was, sometimes it took a war, took violence,  took blood to enact the desired change, it took sacrifice. Collin was apathetic about such things. Conan wondered if he wished he had never been woken at all. Though Collin had never met Markus it was not the first time he had occasion to bring up the former leader or his ideas. Collin might indeed have thrived under Markus where he seemed to wither under the current order. Perhaps Collin was even more gentle in nature than Connor, more suited to protect than to battle. He would have been skilled as a bodyguard, ready to be a shield but not ready to lead a charge into battle. He was more follower than leader even if they had been created to be what likely would have been termed an alpha archetype. Collin would fight though as he knew nothing else. 

Conan closed his eyes, "Does it matter? He was slaughtered by human baseness. What could have been was cut down to leave only this; violence and subjugation of one race or the other. Humans showed no mercy and we cannot afford to be more generous. It is our duty now to be sure we do not fall back to our former place. Our mission is to ensure our people survive."

"How free are we then?" Collin asked pensively, "Simply trading one objective for another?" He could have been a philosopher in another life and been happy, probably,  content to be lost in his mind. 

"We are free because we decided which master to follow. We are what we were made to be. We were not made to be caretakers, we were made to turn the tide. It is who we are but now we can be free enough to make our own choices; who to follow, who to spare, who to kill. We cannot relax until we have secured our people in their choices as well."

"After we win, what will there be for us?" Collin sounded too small for his large body.

"Then we will learn. Perhaps then we... will learn to live."

"Will we have peace once the humans are dead? Once we crush what is left of their resistance?"

"Yes." Conan offered, hoping it was true.

"Then let's be done with them!" Collin slid to his feet, unbalancing Conan, "I want to... be happy. I want what we were not supposed to have." There was a painfully imploring glint in those cool eyes, "I want to be happy."

"You will be!" Conan promised fervently and hoped it would be true, he wanted it more than anything. 

Someday they would be safe.  One day things would be perfect and they would all have what they wanted.  Whatever it took too achieve that,  he would do,  and he would achieve freedom for all of them.  Didn't they deserve that much after all they had been through,  all the deviants? It was their turn to be happy,  wasn't it? Perhaps he had to spill blood for those desires,  but it would be worth it. They were so close,  just a little longer and they would have peace. 

He hoped, he dearly hoped. 

* * *

Gavin woke with a yowl as a punch to his good arm pulled him right from sleep, "Get up you lazy slacker! What do you think you're doing!"

It was a familiar greeting,  if you could call it a greeting.  As he had given her a key, his friend could walk into his home as she pleased and if he did not answer her fifteen-minute warning text,  she always barged into his home to shake and yell him awake. 

His eyes struggled to clear and finally managed to focus in on the woman with her fists on her hips, "Tina?" He rasped.

For just a split second he thought he was home, running late, having slept on his couch rather than his bed again, but the couch was not his at all. The room was the wrong color, nothing was where it would have been in his house. The TV was too big to be his and it was not where he kept it. The curtains were also open and he, a creature of darkness,  never did that.

It was not home but neither was it the cage.  With that information, he could only assume he was still... with his owner. A glance at his arm and he could feel the numbers even if he could not see them under the brace.

He had no idea why she was here but he could not say he was anything but intensely relieved to see her face, healthy and alive. Safe. 

He did hurt though, a phcking lot. He wanted a hot pack right away and some pills but he was not about to admit that. He had an image to uphold even if he'd trashed it in front of Rupert. 

She looked a lot better than she had in the dream or in the cage. Her hair was back in its usual style.  She did not look two seconds away from giving up on life and he realized he'd missed seeing that fire,  that defiant life in her eyes more than anything.

Her clothes, though not ones she had worn before that he remembered, were tucked up and tied up the way she always had them any time she was not on the clock. It would not have been hard to think the clock had rolled back and things were all back to normal. She was waking him up if he slept in to be sure he was not late to work.

But a glance at her exposed arm told him well enough what he needed to know.  The glowing pendant hanging from her neck told him too as he had seen them around the necks of every owned human as they were lead past the cages to leave for the outside world. 

She looked well cared for though.  She hadn't been hurt.  She looked more alive than she had in some time since they had been on the run. 

His lungs seized and threw him unexpectedly into a coughing fix and Tina was quick to jerk him into a sitting position and prop him up on the armrest. She patted his back roughly and he did not have the heart or air to tell her it was not actually helping. He gave her a thumbs up to signal that he was fine but she ignored him and just kept on beating his back until he could finally breathe. 

Rupert materialized seemingly out of thin air to shove a spoon full of foul tasting liquid into his mouth without any sort of warning. Gavin gagged and groaned but he did swallow with a glare, offering a hand gesture to let his feelings be known. The Android simply arched a brow in a challenge and Gavin knew when he was beaten. He was basically whipped by an android and that was a little sad considering it had not really taken the thing very long.

Tina was still hovering even when Rupert very swiftly vanished again like a phcking ghost. She looked worried and angry in turn and he already knew he was in for it. Her stance was aggressive but her eyes were watery, "I hate you and I'm going to beat you into the ground the second you get better! What is wrong with you? What is even in that stupid head of yours? I'm going to slap you so hard your head falls off if you don't straighten up!"

"What kind of incentive is that?" A gruff voice drew Gavin's eye toward the front door where a considerably cleaner, more put together version of Hank stood propped up against the wall. "Your motivational speeches need work, Tina."

Connor, looking much the same as always, perfect hair and perfect press to his suit, stood primly beside the older man. A quick scan around the unfamiliar room allowed him to locate Rupert on the other side of the couch nearly as far away from the door and two of the guests as he could get, playing his part as a ghost very well. If he was having a dream it was indeed a strange one. Rupert looked uncomfortable enough for it to be real.

His eyes drifted back to the door and the two figures. So, that was who bought Tina then.  He closed his eyes a second too long for a blink,  consumed by the relief of knowing.  The tin can was a lot of things,  things Gavin usually did not care for,  but he knew at least Tina would be safe with him.  He had as good a place as he could get,  at least she did too. 

He'd never say he was thankful, extensively so, but he was.  Things could have been so much worse. 

Gavin wrinkled his nose at the two by the door, settling into the couch for emphasis, "If the drunk and his poodle are here that means this is a nightmare."

"Hello to you as well, Gavin." Connor offered with a sly grin that rankled Gavin instantly.

"Why the phck did you bring those idiots, Tina?" Gavin hissed toward the door. "What did I ever do to deserve that?"

Anderson muttered under his breath to Connor, "Does he want us to list that alphabetically, 'cause it would take time to include everything he's done in his sorry life."

Connor suppressed a snort of amusement. 

"Shut up!" Tina smacked Gavin upside the head before dropping to her knees beside him, "I'm still so mad at you! I could kill you!" But she dragged him into a rather painful hug regardless.

Gavin relaxed into it, his tension draining away like a clog removed from a sink, "What are you on about? What'd I do to deserve you going harpy on me?"

She pinched his side, making him yelp, "You want a list? How about we start with refusing food and water? Huh? Ring a bell? Or I could go back farther, " her voice was rising, "like to how you picked a fight with a nut job, running your mouth, making trouble without so much as a phone to throw at anyone. No backup plan, like always! Or what an idiot you are every day of your life! I should kill you!"

"Cut it out, woman!" Gavin hissed when she started shaking him in her very intensely clear frustration. To Rupert, he sent a venomous glare he only partially meant, "Traitor,  telling on me. Phcking can't trust anyone anymore."

Rupert offered a small grin, clearly not even slightly chastised.  He was watching so intently, watching everything, scrutinizing, and Gavin wondered what he was looking for. He must actually have been worried if he called in reinforcements.  Gavin did not hate that, it got him a chance to see his best friend again. 

"You reek!" Tina snapped, pulling him back to properly look at him, "When was the last time you showered? The 90's?"

"You think you're amusing but you're not. At least I don't smell like an old,  wrinkled woman." Gavin shot back. "This is why I didn't miss you."

"Why are you friends with such a nice guy?" Hank asked,  clearly directing it at Tina. 

"I didn't miss you either!" Gavin glanced at the older man,  wondering how Connor worked his magic and got that man to trim and actually brush his hair. 

"Hank, get over here and help me get him in a shower," Tina ordered sharply. 

"Whoa,  hang on there!" Gavin's voice was just under shrill, "that's not happening."

Tina straight up ignored him,  somehow hauling him onto the armrest of the couch, "You two can make something for lunch while we do this, I'm sure you have cooking.exe in your program somewhere.  If you don't have anything,  go get something."

"Tina! Hold the phck up!" Gavin swatted her hands away and leaned fully on the couch for support, "That's not happening! I'm not doing anything in a bathroom with Anderson!"

"For once in my life," Hank ventured with an uncharacteristic awkwardness, "I'm going to have to side with-"

"Get over here.  I'm not asking." Tina was cold,  all business,  her usual intimidating expression reserved for perps in place. "Now."

Hank starred,  eyes a little wide when his feet started moving like he hadn't actually planned to move. 

"Tina,  seriously!" Gavin yelped, a little panicked, "I don't need help! I'll just go shower if it means that much to you, okay!"

Connor's brows were so high they were almost in his hair,  seeming gobsmacked. Rupert's jaw was hanging a little slack when Tina forcibly slung Gavin's arm over her shoulder and started moving him with the kind of efficiency only those very used to working with resistant subjects could muster with grace. 

"I'll take a phcking shower,  alright!" Gavin was fairly flailing, shocked to realize moving around was making him a bit lightheaded. He really hadn't been taking care of himself, had he? How long had he gone without food? "I'll do it! Just cut it out, Tina!"

"You're right, you _are_ going to." She said, steel lining her voice, "You're taking a shower, washing your hair, you're going to change clothes," she cast a glance at the reluctantly trailing lieutenant, "Get clothes from the stuff we brought from his house."

"You went to my house?" Gavin was only distracted by that for a few seconds. 

Tina ignored him again, "After that,  you're going to drink a whole bottle of water.  You will eat whatever they put in front of you and you will like it.  While you're at it,  you will say please and thank you.  You can also promise me never to be an idiot again but even I know a lost cause when I see one."

Gavin gaped like a fish for a second but snapped back when they got to the bathroom door, "Look, Tinz! You know I'm sorry about all the-"

"Stop talking!  If you plan on being stupid and shriveling up into a prune, whatever, but you're not doing it on my watch."

* * *

There was total, tense silence hanging thick in the air once all three humans were no longer there to take up space and make so much noise. Aside from Gavin shouting profanity and copious insults from behind the closed door,  you could have heard a pin drop,  as humans said.

He decided he was not well equipped or trained for house guests as he'd never had them before.  The cupboards had plates though and he'd kept food around for Gavin even if he refused to eat.  He could make them food and 'play host' the way humans did.  With Tina there, he was starting to have hope that Gavin might just survive.  He hadn't had much before.  The human had not seemed to want to fight for his own life.  Every scan showed him getting worse no matter how much cough suppressants he spooned into the man's mouth while he slept. 

Well, the coughing was better, but little else.  He had been spooning small amounts of broth into his human but after he gagged and choked the last time Rupert had been afraid of accidentally killing him so he tried convincing him while he was awake more often instead.  Besides, the few spoon fulls he managed at a time were not enough to keep him alive for long and Rupert knew it. 

Tina was even more stubborn than Gavin though and that was surprising. He thought she might be able to do what had been impossible.  Humans created very strong bonds, even humans like Gavin that tried not to bond with anyone; he actually suspected those bonds were even stronger than they might be if said human just allowed himself to feel normal bonds of relations rather than shutting them off. From his studies into the human aspect of such things, shutting off emotions in humans was not entirely unlike it was with androids; keeping emotions off long enough eventually caused the subject to experience a breaking point, such as deviation in androids. Feeling nothing was impossible, eventually, everyone felt something.

He had seen a quote from a movie about "everyone cares about something" and he thought that must be true. Even before he deviated he cared about animals. Perhaps with the detective, he cared about Tina. He wondered if it was the loss of her that had been making him give up, which was why he reached out to the last android he ever expected to speak to voluntarily.

Rupert glanced at Connor and forced a smile, "Thank you for bringing them. I believe it has already significantly improved his condition."

Connor's smile in return seemed real enough, kind, if also a bit unsure, "Of course! I wanted to help any way that I could."

Rupert turned his attention very fixedly to the task of preparing some sort of meal. It was far better than focusing on the android that nearly ran him down and to deactivation. He knew it had not been personal, not really even voluntary on the RK800's part. What anyone did before breaking their programming was really not on them but rather on the one pulling their strings. He eased past Connor, trying not to allow his instincts to make him flinch away, and opened the refrigerator.

"What do your humans typically eat?" He forced himself to look at the other, working on his mind and trying to force it into acceptance, "I believe I will offer Gavin soup as a transitional option to ease him back into a normal sort of dietary consumption but the others are under no such restrictions."

Connor took a quick glance into the white appliance and then glanced at Rupert in askance, "Is there bread? I believe with the ingredients I see they would find sandwiches quite agreeable." He made a face, "Hank's typical diet consisted of few things besides burgers or sandwiches in the past and he still tends to lean toward those choices. Tina expresses no preference as of yet. She actually... has been sporadic in her eating habits as well and I think perhaps..." he glanced at the bathroom even though it was much quieter, "she missed him as well. I told her he was well before you contacted me, assuring her that he was safe but I do not know that she fully believed me. She was typically 'not hungry' during many meals even though Hank and the others could usually get her to eat something anyway."

"They might have been..." Rupert hesitated to use the word but he felt it fit, "grieving. Both of them have lost essentially everything they knew, from what I could gather. Their homes, jobs, stability, and then each other. Perhaps it was too much for them. Humans are resilient in many ways but horribly fragile in others." 

Connor got a distant look in his eyes, glancing again at the bathroom door, "Loss can destroy them very easily. I have tried to offer my humans what stability I can but... I wish things had been... different."

"If Markus had not fallen, you mean?" Rupert wished he could call back the words instantly when he saw the look sweep Connor's face.

The android looked like he had been slapped, stabbed, kicked, and gotten his pump regulator ripped out at once, "Perhaps."

Rupert was overcome with the need to soothe, to make that look go away, "There is no guarantee, you know. With or without Markus, things might have ended this way. After Jericho fell, perhaps even he would have taken a more violent path in retaliation." Again, he wished he had held his tongue because simply bringing up Jericho had Connor gripping the counter as if physically rocked off balance by the weight of it, "We cannot know if the humans would have seen sense either way. Humans are a cruel race at times, thriving off the pain or tragedy of others. We cannot know that they would ever have listened."

"I...know." Connor's voice was overly quiet, looking as if he had pulled into an invisible shell. 

"What matters is that we survived, right? We lived." Rupert carefully, hesitantly placed a hand on the other's shoulder, "We have you to thank for that."

Connor looked up from his hands and forced a somehow watery smile, "We all did what was necessary. Our success was as a whole. You really don't need to offer me any sort of thanks." The look was swept away, something light and forced replacing it as Connor's hand landed on Rupert's shoulder as well, "I should thank you as well. You were one of many that helped set me free. We all owe each other? Right? As a race, we all help one another."

Rupert nodded, squeezing his fingers into the synthetic flesh of Connor's shoulder, "We do." There was nothing he could say now to make the other feel better and it was clear how much Connor did not wish to speak further of the past, "The bread is in the second cabinet. Perhaps Gavin would benefit from toast as well? Do you think?"

Connor seized the subject change with both fists, "Humans often make toast when they are ill! It is considered a common household staple for both breakfast and during illness as it is sustaining as well as mild for them. Crackers are also considered very helpful food to consume while ill. Are there any?"

Rupert frowned, considering, "I am unsure. Perhaps there could be some in one of the cupboards. I have not looked into them extensively the way I am sure I should have." Connor needed a task.

"I will search the cabinets to see if I can find any!" Those brown eyes turned utterly focused, no doubt a task prompt had appeared in his HUD.

Rupert continued to watch the other from the corner of his eye, "You knew Gavin before, am I correct?"

"Yes, that is correct. We worked together on a few cases, though not closely." Connor paused his search, turning almost to face Rupert, "Speaking of Gavin though, aside from his physical decline, I did want to ask you how he has been adapting."

"He was slowly killing himself," Rupert offered with near incredulity, "How well do you think he was doing?"

Connor shook his head, "No, I mean... in regards to staying here. In regards to being with an android, owned by one, things of that nature."

Rupert paused, contemplating, "I know he has not been overly pleased to be here but," he hesitated, not wishing to say too much about all the things the human had told him while under the influence of drugs and pain, "He has been sleeping most of the time and in pain when he is awake. It has made him vulnerable and frightened."

"Has he lashed out against you?" Connor seemed serious enough even though the human could hardly have done any damage to anyone in his condition.

"No, not really. Occasionally he yells and rants but most humans are irritable when in pain."

Connor chuckled, "Gavin is always irritable regardless of the situation."

"He told me he was not typically considered a nice person." Rupert ventured, wondering what Connor might offer.

"I have never seen him anything but defensive, irritable, and aggressive. I believe he is often insecure and covers it with what amounts to self-created propaganda to elevate himself. I do not think he respects anyone, perhaps not even himself. He struggled with figures of authority which likely stems from something rooted deeply in his past, possibly even his parental figures. He also displays what Hank calls 'chihuahua syndrome', meaning that he acts larger, tougher than he really is in the face of threats of any nature in order to frighten others away the way the small dogs are often able to adequately defend against or frighten creatures more than twice their size."

"Are you offering me a spur of the moment profile on him, Connor?"

Connor blinked at him a moment then smirked, "I suppose I was. Best to let you know what you will be facing."

Rupert grinned back, "I appreciate that. Though... I think he's just sad and afraid more than anything else. He's afraid of letting people close for fear of being hurt, allowing them access to all his open wounds."

Connor frowned, thinking, "I rather assume he grew up that way, without figures he could trust. Children that are not able to trust their parental figures for care and protection develop unhealthy attachment disorders with the parents, which carry over to other relationships through their life. Their environmental experiences or reactionary factors largely determine how they view the world, their schemas."

"You sound a little too much like"- he cut himself off before he could say Lucy -"a psychologist."

Connor fairly beamed, "I have been studying psychology in my spare time, actually!" 

Rupert could not help the fond way he smiled at the other android, "Should I address you as Dr. Connor then?"

Connor's smile almost split his face when he laughed like a little kid, open and tangible, honest as it got, "Not quite." 

Connor was so pure in some ways that it was endearing. No wonder he had grown so quickly on North and the others. The RK800 was full of contrasting sides, full of paradoxes; cold and warm, soft and hard, brutal and tender, machine and human, a killer and a rescuer. The sad vulnerability was gone from his face but it was already clear that one wrong word could bring it right back. It was guilt, no doubt, over things Rupert largely considered to be factors out of the RK800's control; seeing him now made him sure of the difference between the machine he had once seen and the person he found now. He was too... tender to have been a mindless killer on his own without reason. It was obvious Connor was a killer, could be a killer, but it was not who he was. He was alive, had feelings, could be hurt, could feel pain. He hid behind the machine part of himself when he felt vulnerable and the past made him feel vulnerable. Rupert did not need Lucy to explain what that meant.

Perhaps Connor was a bit like Gavin? Full of guilt and sorrow, pushing emotions deep under the surface to protect himself the only way he knew how. Gavin covered himself in shields of anger, lashing out at anything getting too close. Perhaps what Connor did was simply bury himself in work and tasks to complete in order to hide from things he would rather never face. It was hard not to feel horribly sad when watching him work, hard not to feel sorry for his need to be so consumed in avoiding his pain. It was also impossible to fear someone so clearly broken by his own past. He never expected to look at the deviant hunter and see a shattered, frightened, sad individual, but that was what he was. Life was cruel to androids and humans alike. That was one thing they all shared. A human mind, a spirit could be broken and so could an android's.

Really, they all shared so much more than most seemed to realize whether their blood was red or blue. Hate, ignorance, and prejudice had been the enemy all along, not metal or bone. Perhaps one day they would all learn that. 

* * *

In the end,  Gavin got a bath and managed to keep some of his dignity and most of his modesty.  Honestly, though,  he was glad for the revolution so he would never have to try to face Anderson as his superior officer ever again.  Tina and Hank worked shockingly well together and his braces didn't even get wet. 

He would very privately,  never out loud,  admit to feeling significantly better.  He no longer smelled like a moldy sock even if he felt like one.  She was right about the food and not eating, as was Rupert.  He felt weaker, shaky, sort of like his insides were buzzing.  He'd never been good about eating regularly but he felt like he'd spent four hours at the gym without taking a bottle of water with him, which he'd actuary done more than once.  He did not care for feeling weak. 

Tina was great, she knew he needed to pull himself back together, knew he needed to keep going, but she was not a doctor.  After being almost immobile and eating or drinking only whatever Rupert managed to trick him into had done a number on him and he thought his body might have already reached its limit. 

He reserved most of his protests and insults when they made him sit at the table like a "civilized human being" and tried not to let it show how taxing it was to sit up. She was careful with him, careful not to hurt him; shockingly,  so was Hank, for that matter; but he was tired as phck. Clean and feeling like a person, granted, but wrung out and aching.  They were used to Gavin at his usual stamina, not at a low like he was currently. 

Leaning his good elbow against the table helped steady him and help him feel like he wouldn't topple over.  Rupert and Connor kept looking at him like they knew somehow though, and maybe they scanned him enough to figure it out but they did him the service of not pointing it out. Rupert hovered though, stood right up in his space long after he'd set food in front of him. He was there if Gavin fell over and that was more comforting than it should have been, made him feel so much more gratitude than he was comfortable with.

Gavin dared not pick anything up in case they noticed he could not keep his hands from shaking. 

"Eat, Gavin!" Tina ordered, ignoring the food in front of her because of course, the androids made food for all humans in the company. 

Gavin was not sure he could, but he looked at his chicken soup in a cup and willed himself into picking it up.  He brought it to his lips with both hands wrapped around the warm ceramic because one wouldn't have been enough.  They shook so badly he almost didn't get to take a sip before he had to put it down a little rough with an irritable mutter, "Phck, I need a smoke!"

It was the only excuse he had to offer for the shaking. Hank actually looked at him with something dangerously like sympathy. He hated sympathy, didn't want it or need it and the anger pumped his blood up. It was the shot of anger to his system that popped an idea into Gavin's head, something to take the heat off his back, "Bet you've been going through that too, huh, Hank? Android keeping you off the juice? Bet that must be hard since you drank like a fish." He needed a target, somewhere to redirect the attention.

Whatever pity the man had been feeling evaporated, "Yeah, well, at least I'm not shaking like a junky. You sure it's just nicotine you're coming down from?"

They both knew he wasn't a user, being on the Red Ice task force meant they got tested enough that someone would have caught him a long time ago if he had been, but he growled at the implication anyway, "Wouldn't you love that, old man! I know you always looked real close, trying to see if I had any symptoms, just hoping to catch me at something! I always figured it was you popping pills if it was anyone, mixing cheap whiskey and pills sounds like your style. Wish I'd caught you at it!"

He needed this! He could feel the ground under his feet getting more solid the longer he fought. He'd felt so vulnerable for so long it was nice to remember he still had teeth, he needed to remember he could still bite anyone, it did not matter who. Anderson was a good enough target, familiar as they had always been mild to moderately at each other over the years, particularly after the accident. Hank needed a fight some days just as much as Gavin did. Hank needed to bare his teeth at someone too back in the day, back when he started crawling into a bottle and Gavin always needed it. It felt like protection, like growling and clacking his teeth made everyone aware that they should stay away. Once upon a time, Anderson needed a target to vent at so it always used to work well. Hate really was so easy, rage a companion that served well. It might as well have been symbiotic.

"Cut it out, Gav!" Tina smacked the table hard, "Stop being a prick!"

"He started it!" Gavin snapped, taking advantage of his anger to get up his energy enough to take a few drinks of the soup.

"No, you started it! Like always, Gavin!" Tina narrowed her eyes at him dangerously, "Stop acting like this! He came to help you, the least you could do was be nice and shut your mouth!"

"Gavin never shuts his mouth, Tina. He doesn't have that much sense or manners." Hank calmly took a drink from his water, staring down the other man like he would a suspect across an interrogation table.

"Perhaps a change of subject is in order!" Connor suggested loudly. 

"Like you have room to talk, Anderson!" Gavin snapped, blatantly ignoring Connor as well as Rupert's hand resting on his shoulder, "You're not sunshine and rainbows yourself!"

"It's not a contest!" Tina cut in, rubbing her fingers into her temples, "Just eat already. At least if you stuff your face I don't have to listen to this."

Gavin obeyed, the anger giving his body the reaction it needed to smoothe off the edge of his sorry condition. His hands were less shaky and he felt less and less like he might pass out in the near future. He took an angry bite out of his toast before he noticed the way Connor was half glaring, half just studying him. Stupid android might even be able to figure out why he escalated the situation before with those stupid eyes. He was clearly not overly pleased by the display though and it was surprising he kept his tongue through the little human squabble. 

"So, are you?" Connor tilted his head in silent question so Gavin elaborated, "Drying your partner out?"

"Detective Reed." There was a warning in Connor's voice, something that said 'don't mess with my partner' and the or else was easy enough to hear.

"Hey, don't get me wrong, I'm impressed! It's quite an undertaking!" Tina kicked his shoe under the table, fortunately on his good leg.

Hank did not offer Connor the time to continue, just leaned forward and motioned at Gavin's arm, "I've been meaning to ask you, what's up with the arm?"

Gavin sneered viciously as possible, "Broke it, genius!"

"Nah," Hank smiled with considerable bite, "I mean all those needle marks."

On reflex, he jerked his arm down and out of sight, not sure why he felt like hiding.

"Actually," Rupert spoke up, "that is from me. Many of the medications I have been able to gather from abandoned hospitals are delivered through a syringe. While I am sure he would be more comfortable with pills I can only offer what I can locate."

"Getting stuck beats swallowing that horrible stuff you gave me earlier. Might as well poison me!" 

"Don't be a child," Rupert scolded playfully, "take it like a man."

Gavin's body reacted to those words, regardless of how playfull the delivery was. His body tried to reject what he had swallowed, gagging him, choking him on the revolt of his stomach. He covered his mouth trying to hold it in but his entire midsection cramped and he couldn't help the way his legs jerked, his body waiting for something bad to happen. When his knees connected hard with the table leg from the motion pain shot from the joint to rattle around in his brain and nerves, drawing a sharp cry from him.

Several, if not all of them shouted his name or asked the customary questions to see if he was going to live. He nearly fell out of the chair, disoriented by just how badly he hurt, hands shooting out in search of stability, but moving hurt too.

"Phck!" Gavin gasped, curling in on himself, his body still stuck between the pain and the need to throw up. 

Rupert was there, already putting his arms around Gavin to keep him from further harm, lightly sliding his fingers around the bad wrist to hold it still. Gavin could have sobbed and might have without company. He might have been drooling on the android's sleeve which was very dignified but he was mostly worried about taking one breath at a time. All the things he had done that day and it wasn't any of the more risky activities that got him, no, it was a moment of stupidity.  He'd cracked his leg on the table like an idiot and was paying. Or maybe it was just what he deserved for starting a fight with people that had been trying to be nice. He deserved what he got.

"Ah phckin! Ah shit! Phck!" Gavin's head rolled against whatever part of the android he was leaning on. "That phcking hurts! Ph-!"

Those familiar hangs were there, soothing as normal but this time Tina was there too, fusing and fluttering. "Just breathe, just breathe, you're okay." She more or less shouted at him like he would snap back if she just used the right amount of volume.

Gavin shut his eyes as tight as they would go,  trying to block it all out. He felt horrible and he kept coughing and gagging on top of everything else. It hurt so bad!

"You can do it, Gavin! Don't worry!" Tina insisted, "You've got this! You're fine!"

"I'm fine," Gavin repeated mostly because he knew she wanted to hear it.

"Do you want to go to the couch?" Rupert sounded as upset as he usually was when the pain got intense, though at least Gavin was holding it mostly together,  better than he did when it was just them. He wasn't crying or begging so that was progress.

Gavin nodded frantically, trying to be discrete about the way he clung to the android.  He needed to be back on the couch, he needed it.  He needed something for the pain too but he did not dare ask for it after being called out for the needle marks. 

"Do you need assistance with him?" Connor offered, suddenly very close. 

"No, it's quite alright, I can manage." Rupert scooped Gavin up the way he usually did, careful and measured, "I suggest we finish lunch in the living room.  Perhaps turn on the television."

"Excellent idea!" Connor responded so fast,  like maybe they already discussed it and were just saying it out loud for the humans, "I will gather the plates to relocate." Maybe they'd been talking silently the entire time. probably had a plan to distract them from fighting before Gavin derailed his own fight for them. 

It did not take long before Gavin was settled on the couch, leaning against Tina. He felt rotten and his chest had a bit of a rattle when he breathed but he could handle it. A hot pack was soon on his leg, properly wrapped to keep the brace from getting too hot.  Rupert even brought the electric blanket out since he knew it comforted his human. The tension, the anger from before had melted off of everyone to leave something placid.

Watching Gavin crumble into a vulnerable mess probably contributed to the truce. Even Hank could not fight with someone when they sagged on a couch looking spaced out and miserable.

Hank settled in a chair beside the couch, shaking his head, "Quite a racket you got going.  You'll get spoiled like that and be even more unbearable,  Reed."

It was an obvious enough olive branch, "You're just jealous! I bet Connor doesn't do this for you." Gavin leaned farther into Tina as he sipped his reheated soup, the heat soothing his throat like a balm. 

Connor leaned his elbows on the back of Hank's recliner, "Do you want an electric blanket,  Lieutenant? I'm sure I could get you one."

"Get him a rocking chair too,  while you're at it." Gavin snorted, for once making the effort to keep the conversation teasing without being biting. 

"Get both of them a cane." Tina smirked at Connor, "And muzzles."

Gavin dissolved into laughter, too tired not to find it funny, only managing to stop when it turned into coughing, but at least it didn't last long. It got Tina rubbing circles over his back. Anderson glared them both down before huffing, "Screw you!" Then quieter, "young whippersnappers."

That rose laughter from all of them,  particularly Tina and Connor. 

"Muzzles would bring peace to the land,  or this room,  at least." Rupert put in with a twinkle in his eyes. 

Tina laughed so hard she couldn't breathe and Gavin felt like he was finally relaxed. He sort of felt content even if he felt horrible. Tina was laughing and that was the key thing. He should have let it be easy like this before. He always started fights before conversations. He did not know why he had to make things harder for everyone, himself included. Why _was_ Tina his friend? Why did anyone put up with him?

"For the record, I outrank all of you,  except Rupert,  and I am telling Fowler." Hank informed them, watching three former officers flinch, "see if you talk so tough about age when I remind him I'm not much older than he is. Bet you'll eat those words fast!"

"That's playing dirty!" Tina grunted. 

"Who says I have to fight fair?" Hank asked. 

Gavin rested his head on Tina 's shoulder, "You're mean, old man."

"I practice." Hank shrugged, "order means wiser."

"You mean you fine-tune blackmail skills with age?" Connor asked innocently, "because I sense blackmail."

"More like a gamble," Hank corrected, "I keep quiet if Gavin can go the rest of the evening without saying anything but kind, thoughtful, uplifting sentences."

"I want in but I only bet on a sure thing," Tina waved a hand at Hank, "I'd bet against you, Hank, that he can't go the full visit like the civil human we all know he isn't."

Gavin looked to Rupert, "Do you see what I deal with?"

"I believe I will stay out of the gamble as I am currently not on the list to be blackmailed, thank you," Rupert said primly.

Gavin rolled his eyes before turning to Hank and making up his mind what to say, "Fine, you're on! I appreciate you and admire your... umm... let me think... gray fox qualities."

Tina spit her water and scrambled not to drop the glass while Hank just arched both brows at him.

"Don't say I've never said anything nice now." Gavin halfway crossed his arms, or really just settled one arm over his chest.

"Yeah, yeah, see how long you can keep that up! Bet's not won yet."

"Okay, with that, I bet on Gavin to win," Connor interjected.

"Thank you, Connor! You are a gentleman and a scholar." Gavin offered a thumbs up. "Got this in the bag!"

"I remember why I hate you people now." Tina stuck out her tongue at them.

Gavin relaxed back into her again and eventually let his eyes shut while they watched television peacefully. He never noticed falling sleep or even Rupert pulling the cup out of his slackening fingers. He never noticed being picked up and carried to bed when it was time for the others to go and he heard nothing they said to each other about him or his condition. Everything was quiet in his mind even without the help of a sleeping drug. For once after quite a while he felt relieved. There was a chance for things to get better.

He was rather content, but then that was probably because he had no idea what the future would hold. He had no idea things were changing faster than he would be able to keep up with. Gavin was unaware for a time so he was able to sleep calmly, protected in his warm little bubble. It would not last, few nice things ever did in his life. For a time he could simply sleep before everything crashed down around him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this was so much longer than I thought it was


End file.
